Chapter 430 - Little Crossroads Plan (Part 1)

The so-called Gaoshan Ridge was in fact a mountain ridge of Piye Mountain, situated west of Lingao County Town. Piye Mountain's six main peaks stood upon the northern plain of Lingao, and the six ridges commanded the Beibu Gulf to the northwest—a natural barrier shaped by nature itself. To the southeast, from the commanding heights, one could overlook the villages and fields within a radius of dozens of li. It was a position of strategic importance. On Xixing Ridge of Piye Mountain, a coastal defense battery had been established during the Qing dynasty, its artillery capable of controlling the sea areas around Lingao Corner, Xinying Harbor, and Paipu Harbor in Dan County. In 1950, the Nationalist garrison had also positioned artillery on Xixing Ridge as the lynchpin of Lingao's coastal defense.

Following the liberation of Hainan Island, the PLA had likewise stationed an artillery unit in the Piye Mountain area, with the garrison located on Mopan Ridge—one of the six ridges.

"From Lingao County Town to Gaoshan Ridge—that is, the Piye Mountain area—the modern road distance is only three to four kilometers, still within relatively close proximity to our main base. The popular base at Damei Village, established after eliminating the Gou Family Manor, enjoys quite favorable conditions. If we elevate Damei Village to Damei Commune and relocate some immigrants there to strengthen our forces, stationing an infantry company would make the area quite secure. This would form a barrier to the west. No enemy could launch a direct attack on Bairen Castle." Military People's Commissar He Ming assessed the benefits of establishing a branch base in the Piye Mountain area at the Executive Committee meeting.

"But wouldn't this create too many bases and disperse our forces?" Wen Desi expressed concern. The army had not grown substantially larger, yet the locations requiring defense seemed to multiply. Nanbao and Macao currently relied on militia for self-defense. Such militia might prove adequate against bandits, but against Ming troops, they would likely scatter at once.

"It won't," He Ming replied, pointing to the large-scale map of all Lingao hanging on the wall—a map unique in this space-time for its precision, having been resurveyed and corrected based on cartographic data from the modern era.

"Effective defense is not best achieved by clustering troops in one place," He Ming explained. "For genuine defense, you must control key points on the periphery."

Controlling the Piye Mountain area would establish a northwestern defense line for Bairen Castle. It would not only block the Ming army's approach from Danzhou but also strengthen defense of Bopu Harbor by positioning batteries on Xixing Ridge.

"Our current formation is a linear snake array." He Ming's pointer traced along the Wenlan River. "From Bopu to Nanbao, we're stretched out in a line. Should someone attack our flank and sever our communications line, the entire strategic situation becomes dangerously passive..."

"I cannot imagine any army in this space-time capable of cutting our communications line..."

"I believe they can, so do not speak in absolutes." He Ming was more cautious. "Has anyone here actually witnessed the combat capabilities of armies in this space-time?"

Apart from engaging pirates, bandits, and local militia, the "New Army" trained by the Crossing Group had not yet truly faced the Ming army, the Eight Banners, or the "roving bandits." Whether Minié rifles combined with volley fire tactics would prove invincible remained untested.

"As long as a few dozen cavalry rush onto our road, kill one person, hijack one ox-cart, traffic would essentially be disrupted. We would need to prepare escort forces for every transport convoy."

Everyone understood clearly the consequences should this occur. First would come the interruption of raw material supplies. Bairen Castle, this emerging industrial city, depended on the continuous delivery of industrial raw materials from Bopu and Nanbao to maintain production. Second, the farms developed along the Wenlan River would suffer tremendous damage. Crops, unlike factories, could not be defended with cannons and walls.

"What we must defend now is 'area,' not merely the 'points' of the past. This thinking must change in time. To control all of Lingao, occupying the Wenlan River basin alone is insufficient," He Ming concluded.

To defend an area, they had to progressively control strategic points on the periphery, using those points to cover the whole. Making the Piye Mountain area into a base was one such measure.

He Ming's explanation silenced the previous doubts. Ma Qianzhu struck while the iron was hot and delivered a report on the next development plan for Lingao—the so-called "Little Crossroads Plan."

Throughout the development history of Hainan Island, from the Song dynasty onward, proposals had emerged for opening "Great Crossroads" across the entire island. The concept was straightforward: upon the foundation of post roads encircling the island, north-south and east-west arterial roads would be opened to traverse all of Hainan Island. This would not only greatly shorten overland travel but also strengthen governmental control and development of Hainan Island's interior.

Yet this concept, from Song through Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, had never been realized. Yuan dynasty armies had once reached the foot of Wuzhi Mountain, erecting a stone marker as testament, but ultimately withdrew to the coastal areas. Ming dynasty roads had extended to the foot of Limu Mountain in Hainan's interior, where Shuihui Qianhusuo Fort was established—but there they stopped.

In the Crossing Group's follow-up plans for Hainan Island, there existed a new version of the "Great Crossroads Plan." What the Executive Committee currently intended to implement was the Little Crossroads Plan in Lingao. Its central idea was identical: strengthen actual control over the entire county through building crossroads.

With good roads, the movement of materials and personnel, the implementation of government orders, and the deployment of troops would all become remarkably convenient. The modern state's robust control over grassroots and populace was built precisely upon the foundation of good roads and communication networks.

The Little Crossroads Plan involved not only control of the entire county but also related to the Crossing Group's political, economic, and industrial layout for Lingao County. It was a major component of the First Five-Year Plan, second in scale only to the comprehensive management of the Wenlan River basin.

The Little Crossroads Plan already possessed a certain foundation. The north-south road traversing Lingao had been opened, with the highway extending from Bopu all the way to Nanbao. The three bases of Bopu, Bairen, and Nanbao, developing from points to lines to areas, had not only divided the entire Lingao County in two but also controlled the land on both banks of the Wenlan River most suitable for development—including the county town. Moreover, they actually controlled Lingao County Town itself. This north-south arterial road passed directly before Wenshui Bridge outside the East Gate, while the Crossing Group had also used the opportunity of the Tiandihui leasing the school lands to construct a branch road to the West Gate. Shan Daoqian's next step was to build a ring road for the county town—though this ring road spanned only a few hundred meters, it would place the villages and land surrounding the county town completely under control.

Originally, the Crossing Group had established a watchtower at Wenshui Bridge to monitor the county town, keeping direct watch on the East Gate. Now, with School Land Manor constructed outside the West Gate, they indirectly controlled that gate as well. For so small a city as Lingao, with East and West Gates controlled, the South Gate completely visible, and the North Gate nonexistent, the entire county lay completely exposed.

Wu De planned to use the watchtower outside the East Gate as the core and settle several dozen immigrant households, forming a new fortified settlement. On one hand, it would monitor the county town; on the other, it would protect the county town as the midpoint of the crossroads. Lingao County Town, with its geographical advantages, was the ideal crossroads intersection for the "Little Crossroads Plan." The Crossing Group's future positioning for Lingao County Town was "the county's transportation hub and goods distribution center." They planned to first establish a large ox-cart freight center there, and for this purpose had already purchased nearby land for use as pasture for the cattle herds.

In longer-term plans, a major transportation transfer center would be constructed at Wenshui Bridge, comprising a train station, long-distance bus station, and an inland navigation pier on the Wenlan River. Travelers and goods coming to Lingao would be distributed from here to all parts of Lingao—and indeed, all of Hainan.

The highway passing through the county town extended south all the way to Nanbao. Establishing Nanbao Town enabled not only the acquisition of various resources from the Nanbao mountain area but also opened connections with the Li District of Lingao. Trade with the Li District would become more convenient, as would the implementation of various economic, cultural, and religious infiltrations designed to completely eliminate potential instability factors in the Li District.

The Crossing Group's positioning of Nanbao was: "A window for Li District trade and a supply base for mining and forestry products." As for Bairen Castle, it was designated the "manufacturing center and political-military center." Bopu was the "shipping, foreign trade, and chemical center."

After controlling Nanbao, the Crossing Group would formally establish a fourth commune in the Jialai area north of Nanbao: Jialai Commune. Jialai Plain was one of Lingao's four great plains and served as an important agricultural area in modern Lingao. Development in this space-time, however, remained at a very low level. According to Agricultural Committee surveys, because of its proximity to the Li District, farming households were few. Centralized, contiguous development would prove relatively straightforward.

Wu Nanhai's plan was that once the development of Meitai Plain was complete, he would establish farms in Jialai and set up immigrant settlements, building this area into an agricultural region directly under the Crossing Group.

The current road conditions of the Nanbao-County Town-Bairen Castle-Bopu highway were as follows: the Bopu-Bairen Castle section had completed road surface hardening, with telephone and power transmission poles constructed along the route. Supporting facilities were complete. The Bairen Castle-County Town section was still undergoing surface hardening, but the condition of the simple road remained fairly good.

The worst was the County Town to Nanbao route. Hastily opened and subsequently crushed by large numbers of heavily loaded ox-carts, the road surface had suffered extensive damage. The transportation department expended substantial manpower and resources on maintenance. In his report to the Executive Committee, Shan Daoqian explicitly noted that they should either immediately begin the hardening project for this section or immediately lay rail transport. Given the current high-volume cargo transport, though rail transport required high initial investment, long-term operating costs were low.

In the east-west direction, the Crossing Group held Damei Village, established on the original site after eliminating the Gou Family in the Gaoshan Ridge area to the east. In the Macao Peninsula area to the west lay Salt Farm Village. Currently, a simple road connected Damei Village and Lingao County Town. Thanks to salt production, a flagstone road had once linked Macao to Bopu, though its condition was also poor. Consequently, salt was still transported primarily by boat.

(End of Chapter)