Chapter 789 – Hong Kong Planning

Through the Agricultural People's Committee's active efforts, combined with Ye Yuming's vigorous lobbying within the Ministry of Colonial Trade, the concept of implementing an agricultural reclamation system on Hong Kong Island finally won the Planning Academy's approval. However, the proposal to establish an Agricultural Reclamation Division within the Agricultural Committee was rejected by the Organization Department. Ming Lang required the Agricultural Committee to first submit a comprehensive series of materials detailing the rationale for the Division's specific organizational structure, staffing quotas, operational procedures, and personnel allocation plans. Only after these materials were complete could the approval process begin.

Ming Lang handed Wu Nanhai a pile of "standard materials," instructing him to fill them out following the prescribed format. Wu Nanhai naturally delegated this mountain of paperwork to Ye Yuming—after all, who had asked him to be so enthusiastic about the reclamation project?

Though the organization wasn't formally established, a team was assembled in advance. Ye Yuming had originally wanted to create something resembling the Production and Construction Corps, using designations like "17th Regiment of the 3rd Agricultural Division," but the military expressed objections. Dongmen Chuiyu stated that while the Agricultural Reclamation system could employ military organizational principles and the Training Inspectorate could provide necessary assistance, its structure and nomenclature must remain distinct from the Army.

The final decision for the formal designation of the reclamation system in Hong Kong was "1st Regiment, 1st South China Agricultural Reclamation Division"—publicly known as the Hong Kong Reclamation Regiment.

"In terms of rank, by past standards, it would be county-regiment level, I suppose," Ye Yuming observed.

"Rank doesn't matter. The first regimental commander should be an elder regardless," Wu Nanhai said. "I have only one concern: where will the immigrants come from?"

Lingao itself was still absorbing massive numbers of immigrants. With control over Hainan Island now established and development deepening, demand for external immigrants would only grow. Where would they find settlers to populate Hong Kong's blank slate?

"We recruit locally from Guangdong," Ye Yuming explained. "Hong Kong's population carrying capacity isn't high; its development potential is quite limited. The original inhabitants combined with a modest influx of immigrants will satisfy Hong Kong's needs."

Originally, the Planning Academy, Ministry of Colonial Trade, Ministry of Light Industry, and Ministry of Agriculture had all harbored grand ambitions for Hong Kong, envisioning it as a model city—a new-era "Pearl of the Orient." But Wu De had retrieved several 1:200,000 maps of Hong Kong from the old time-space via the Grand Library: urban transport maps, geological maps, topographic maps. These were compared alongside the latest maps drawn by the survey team in this time-space. A team of analysts reviewed all available data on Hong Kong's population, minerals, industry, and agriculture in the Grand Library. The conclusion proved deflating: Hong Kong Island's development potential was pitifully small.

The island lacked open space; flat land was essentially concentrated along Victoria Harbor. The narrow, strip-like terrain made providing sufficient land for industry and agriculture beyond building wharves exceedingly difficult.

The most critical problem was water shortage. The island relied primarily on several reservoirs constructed in the mountains. In the old timeline, the twentieth-century Hong Kong government had vigorously protected mountain vegetation to increase water retention and built multiple reservoirs. Even so, the island's water supply could barely sustain port operations. During the 1960s, a severe water shortage had forced rationing. Modern Hong Kong's water supply depended entirely on pipelines from the mainland.

Consequently, parties who had ambitiously planned to establish heavy industry—especially shipbuilding—in Hong Kong found their hopes deflated. Industry was a voracious consumer of water; without sufficient fresh water, production could not function. The industrial sector had envisioned building shipyards on the island to take advantage of Guangdong's abundant labor and timber for mass shipbuilding, rapidly expanding Lingao's transport fleet. Now they discovered this plan would be extremely difficult to implement.

According to Planning Academy estimates, if shipyards were to be built in Hong Kong, they could only be located on the north shore of Victoria Harbor—the Kowloon Tong area. Yet Kowloon Tong offered little improvement over the island itself; local water sources were equally insufficient for industry, and flat land remained severely limited.

Whether for industry or agriculture, Hong Kong was an unsuitable location. Water, energy, land—specifically flat land—all were lacking. Before 1949, Hong Kong's economic development had not only lagged behind Shanghai but had also fallen short of Guangzhou. Hong Kong's rise to become an international metropolis and "Pearl of the Orient" in the late twentieth century had depended on the immense advantages of serving as the sole window for East-West interaction after 1949, as well as the mainland's provision of energy, fresh water, and food to sustain that "window."

Certainly, with sufficient heavy investment, developing Hong Kong into a commercial-industrial base remained possible. But the Planning Academy's research concluded that such investment held little value—by the end of the Second Five-Year Plan, the Transmigrator Group's sphere of influence would inevitably expand to Guangzhou. Any investment or construction in Guangzhou would be far more convenient than in Hong Kong.

After several consecutive work meetings, Wu De determined Hong Kong's role would be threefold: a trade window, military base, and logistics hub.

Geographically, Hong Kong sat at the Pearl River estuary. A fleet based there could screen the Pearl River, preventing hostile forces from raiding the riverbanks. With government troops defeated by the elders and village self-defense systems destroyed, pirates could seize the opportunity to push inland; if they did, the economy and livelihood along the Pearl River would suffer severe damage.

As a deterrent regarding Guangdong: should any disturbance erupt in Guangzhou, an intervention fleet from Hong Kong could reach the city walls within a day and night—a vastly faster reaction time than departing from Lingao after receiving intelligence.

Hong Kong also lay midway on the Xiamen-Hainan route. If the Zheng fleet intended to attack the transmigrators, evading the Hong Kong fleet's surveillance would prove difficult, providing the transmigrators with early warning. And if the transmigrators wished to strike at the Zheng family, Hong Kong would serve as an excellent forward base; massive supplies could be sourced locally without shipping from Hainan, effectively halving the supply line.

With this strategic orientation established, Hong Kong's development plan was scaled back accordingly. For industry, after the Ministry of Colonial Trade's strenuous advocacy, a shipyard project was retained. The prospect of using nearby timber and manpower to mass-produce transport ships still appealed to the Planning Academy, and the shipyard could service passing vessels.

The Ministry of Light Industry had proposed a food processing plant, but due to water shortages, it was temporarily shelved pending the survey team's investigation of fresh water resources. The Agricultural Committee's reclamation plan was preserved. Reclamation served more political than economic purposes; the settlements themselves would bear garrison duties.

Based on Hong Kong's terrain and Lingao's current economic scale and capacity, the Planning Academy decided development would concentrate on the areas north and south of Victoria Harbor—specifically the small alluvial plain on the island's northern shore and the gentle slopes of Kowloon Tong.

The naval patrol fleet already stationed there was reorganized into the Hong Kong Flotilla, establishing the Hong Kong Base Force. They were stationed at Kennedy Town on the southern shore of Victoria Harbor. For land defense, beyond the outposts already established by the Pearl River Detachment at Lei Yue Mun, Kap Shui Mun, and Fan Kwai Tong, permanent fortresses would be constructed at North Point and Lung Fu Shan in Kennedy Town, forming initial eastern and western strongpoints. A simple road would connect them for troop mobility. Several outposts along this road would transform it into a defensive line protecting the Victoria Harbor development zone.

The original Base 852 in Central would be expanded into a major trade facility, housing customs, warehouses, civilian passenger and cargo wharves, fishing wharves, markets, the shipyard, and aquatic processing plants.

The Lung Fu Shan military base in Kennedy Town would accommodate the Army and Navy Garrison Command, radio station, military depots, and naval wharf.

Grain, vegetable, and poultry supplies for the island would come primarily from reclamation efforts in Kowloon Tong. The Reclamation Regiment would be distributed across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the outlying islands: Kowloon Tong, Tseung Kwan O, Kwai Chung, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Tung Chung, and elsewhere. They would construct fortified walled villages for concentrated living, engaging primarily in fishing, vegetable farming, and animal husbandry. Each walled village would serve as a Battalion Headquarters, with companies or platoons subordinate to it. Each company would build a village centered on a blockhouse. The reclamation teams would adopt a soldier-citizen system with a core militia. Not only immigrants but local villages would also be brought under the reclamation system. Smaller villages would be abolished and consolidated according to the principle of "village concentration."

In the Tung Chung area of Lantau Island, a large purification camp would be established. Immigrants from Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian would first undergo purification there before distribution. The Taiwan development plan would soon appear on the agenda; a purification camp on Lantau would shorten the sea voyage for immigrants heading to that destination.

The garrison force would consist of one Army battalion comprising three infantry companies and one artillery company, plus one Navy Base Force and one Navy Flotilla. The Base Force would include a marine company for rapid response.

"These forces are sufficient for the initial stage," Dongmen Chuiyu explained during his garrison plan presentation. "Reclamation points have militia available to mobilize. Even if they can't serve as combat troops, they'll suffice for labor and logistics."

Si Kaide proposed that given the current troop shortage, beyond arming farm workers, they might recruit five or six companies of Li and Miao mercenaries to station at mountain passes in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. These would serve as mountain guard units, blocking invasion routes for Ming troops or large pirate bands. Their armaments could be simplified: bows, crossbows, machetes, and a few grenades.

"Five or six hundred Li and Miao people in a separate unit? I consider that inappropriate," Wu Nanhai objected immediately. "Even if we recruit them, they should serve dispersed within the Army."

"We'll discuss that matter later," Dongmen Chuiyu said. "Utilizing the Li and Miao population probably isn't that simple."

(End of Chapter)