Nan'ao Island, Qing'ao Bay.

In just one and a half months, earth-shaking changes have taken place here.

Piers, artillery batteries, barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dry docks… appeared on the originally deserted coastline as if by magic, shocking everyone who witnessed the changes to the core.

If Lin Daoqian was still a little unconvinced before, after witnessing the process of the Qing'ao Bay base being built from scratch, his old habit of jumping back and forth was completely cured, and he would never dare to have second thoughts about his master again for the rest of his life...

The reason why Mr. Zhao could achieve such an achievement beyond his time as a "construction maniac" was firstly due to the cement transported by Hua Bozhen from Xishan Island, and secondly due to the 10,000 craftsmen and farm workers from Jiangnan. They came to Nan'ao Island with the enthusiasm to contribute to the group, just like working on their own land, they went all out every day, and naturally one person was worth two people!

Both are indispensable. If one has to say which one is more important, Zhao Hao will choose the latter without hesitation. This is the sense of ownership that he has always wanted his employees to have!

Mr. Zhao was deeply moved and directly signed an order on Nan'ao Island that all the workers and agricultural workers who volunteered to go south would be transferred to formal employees of the group from that day on. Those who were formal workers would be promoted two levels!

Now the workers and peasants became even more motivated. After the basic construction was completed, they built a ten-mile-long wall for the base, enclosing the entire seaport, barracks, and even the small river that provided water for the entire base, and the small lake upstream.

The wall had to be so long because the number of people in the Qing'ao Bay base had expanded to 25,000 - in addition to 10,000 employees, there were 15,000 armed forces! The place was too small to even accommodate the dormitories.

In order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the front line, Zhao Hao ordered the police trainees who had just received half a year of training in the Coast Guard School to temporarily suspend their studies and await deployment.

However, Zhao Hao cherished every marine police officer he had carefully trained, and would not send green hands to the battlefield unless it was absolutely necessary. Therefore, he only sent them to various marine police bureaus and their subordinate police stations, as well as places where marine police were stationed, such as Naha, Keelung, Tamsui, and Fengshan, to replace most of the regular police officers.

In an emergency, it is fine as long as there is no major chaos in the north. If the little Japanese really dare to get angry, we will wait until the south is settled before we come back to settle the accounts.

So Zhu Jue squeezed out another 2,000 troops, bringing the number of coast guard officers and soldiers in Qing'ao Bay to 11,000.

In addition, Macron also led two security brigades of Jiangnan Security Group to arrive. All the security guards of the security brigade are formal employees of the group and have undergone rigorous training in the training brigade on Xishan Island. Although they are a little bit lacking in spirit without the inspiration of Director Tong, they are definitely elite in terms of equipment and quality of soldiers.

Jiangnan Group now has numerous industries and too many assets to protect. The number of security personnel has already exceeded 10,000. Transferring two teams will not affect the overall situation.

Finally, there are the 2,000 Ryukyu naval forces led by Zheng Yun. Their galleys have an incomparable advantage in the near sea and can still be used.

With such a large number of people, how amazing would the daily consumption of materials be? If they only relied on long-distance transportation from Jiangnan, there would be no need to transport other materials. Fortunately, Nan'ao Island is at the mouth of Hanjiang River, backed by Zhao Erye's Chaozhou Prefecture!

Zhao Hao placed a large number of orders with various counties in Chaozhou through the newly established Chaozhou Development Company. All materials on the orders were purchased at twice the local price, which caused Chaozhou's prices to rise sharply and also greatly stimulated the local economy!

Don't forget that Chaoshan people are the most business-savvy Chinese. The local shortage of materials is no problem for them. Those who can produce by themselves will immediately expand production, and those who cannot produce will organize fleets to go to other places to purchase goods. Then they will go down the Han River and transport them directly to Nan'ao Island. Mr. Zhao gave them enough profit margins, even if they bought them at the local market price, plus the freight, they would still make a lot of money.

Chaozhou Prefecture had basically sorted out all the relationships, and everything was ready except for the east wind. With this war as its driving force, it began to taxi and prepare to take off...

Every day, there are a constant stream of boats entering and leaving the Qing'ao Bay civilian ship wharf, most of which are five-sail boats of the Tanka people. The Chaozhou people have the advantage of recognizing money rather than people, so they are happy to use cheap Tanka people to run water transportation. But they don't know that many Tanka people have started working for the Jiangnan Group, not only helping them transport materials, but also acting as spies for the Coast Guard fleet, monitoring the slightest movement in the rivers, lakes and seas of Fujian and Guangdong.

~~

When Master Zhao received the pigeon message from Lingdingyang, he was at the dock to greet his sister Huaixiu.

This was the third time that Chen Huaixiu had transported supplies to Nan'ao Island in the past month and a half. He then equipped the Qing'ao Bay base and prepared inventory for the next two months.

So it is true that when a cannon is fired, a fortune is made. The cost of war is too great, especially in naval warfare. Jiangnan Group has mines, a large business, and is rooted in the world's richest and most manpower-rich Jiangnan region, so it can complete such a war preparation without affecting the normal lives of the people.

"Sister Huaixiu, you have worked hard." Zhao Hao stretched out his hand to the increasingly thin Chen Huaixiu with a smile on his face.

Chen Huaixiu took his hand and walked down the gangway of the Pingjiang with grace and grace.

"Sir, what are you talking about? This is what Huaixiu should do." After getting down to earth, she bowed to Zhao Haofu and whispered in his ear, "You stinky brother is just good at talking, but never does anything practical."

"..." Zhao Hao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he still said as usual: "Fortunately, I don't have to travel any more for the time being."

"What's wrong? I was planning to go back after unloading the goods." Chen Huaixiu looked surprised, and said in a voice that only he could hear: "Anyway, I'm redundant here."

Mr. Zhao thought to himself that something must have happened. He suddenly remembered that Lin Feng's fleet seemed to arrive today as well. Could it be that they met on the way?

Thinking of this, Zhao Hao looked up at the bay and saw a fleet with a red phoenix flag, led by a pilot boat, slowly approaching the south pier of the base.

"That's my apprentice..." He explained to Sister Huaixiu in a low voice, and then said seriously: "We just received intelligence from the front that the Macau joint fleet has more than 400 ships and has set off for Nan'ao Island. For safety reasons, all voyages must be stopped."

"Really?" Chen Huaixiu was really surprised this time. How could she not distinguish the important from the unimportant? In fact, she just saw Zhao Hao's smiling face and thought that the world should be peaceful for the time being, so she was a little jealous to adjust her mood.

"It was just delivered to the dock." Zhao Hao nodded.

"Why are you still wasting time here? Why don't you hurry to the headquarters?" Chen Huaixiu stamped his feet lightly.

"There's no rush. It's also important to meet Sister Huaixiu." Young Master Zhao said with a gentle smile.

Secretary Ma behind him couldn't help but shudder. It's really terrible...

"Really? I can't bear that." Chen Huaixiu finally smiled happily, and then said in a mosquito-like voice: "Your stinky brother has a conscience."

"That's it." Zhao Hao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's so realistic." Chen Huaixiu stretched out her slender finger and poked him, then she resumed her graceful and generous image as a big sister and walked side by side with him towards the brick-red two-story building. "Are you worried that the soldiers will be too nervous?"

"Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from my sister." Zhao Hao nodded and sighed, "I found that the battle was too big and scared my own people. According to the police officers, the veterans are fine, but the newly graduated marine police and the security guards of the security team have been a little uneasy recently. So the more times like this, the more I have to send everyone a relaxed signal, to make the soldiers feel that I am full of confidence and even in the mood to flirt."

"So that's how it is." Chen Huaixiu glanced at him coquettishly, and was very satisfied with Zhao Hao's wording. "Then do you want to continue and go to the South Pier to flirt?"

"You have indeed met my apprentice." Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"She's a female disciple." Chen Huaixiu snorted and said, "Competitors are enemies, don't you know? What's more, she is so shameless. How about I also take you as my master?"

"No, we can't mess up the generations." Zhao Hao waved his hand quickly.

"That's true. I think she is shooting herself in the foot." Chen Huaixiu smiled faintly and said, "By the way, this battle is also counted as one for our Royal Shipping."

"You are a transport fleet." Zhao Hao said with some distress: "The armament is limited, and the ship is too big. It's not suitable."

"We have fifty big ships, aren't we better than those shabby pirate ships?" Chen Huaixiu said stubbornly, "Don't forget where we come from. We can't beat the Portuguese, but we've never been afraid of pirates. What's more, our ships are strong and our guns are powerful, and our sailors have all been trained at the Chongming Island Navigation School."

"Let me think about it." Zhao Hao said without comment.

"Your female disciple boasted to me that she was here to join the battle, and I could only stand aside." Chen Huaixiu bit her red lips and said, "I don't care. If you don't agree, I will do whatever I want."

"Don't do that. You must be careful." Zhao Hao knew that when Boss Chen got angry, he would do anything, so he had to agree. In fact, although the absolute disadvantage in numbers can be compensated by quality, if the number can be narrowed, it will definitely make the deployment of troops much easier.

"Don't worry, I've fought pirates a lot over the years." Chen Huaixiu smiled and said, "If I don't drink your wedding wine, even the God of Hell can't take me away."

"I don't stink at all. If you don't believe me, smell it." Young Master Zhao could only make a joke. If it was Sister Huaixiu, he would have the confidence to ask Lianli Company to show some favor and add another shareholder. But Chen Huaixiu herself would never agree to it. She was too deeply tied to the Sand Boat Gang and couldn't abandon those tens of thousands of old and young people.

The two of them chatted all the way in a relaxed manner until they entered the headquarters. Then Zhao Hao became serious and said to the messenger in a deep voice: "Convene a high-level combat meeting immediately!"

ps. Post first and modify later