Chapter 1043: Island-Wide Strategy

News of Jeongui's occupation reached Feng Zongze at the Seongsan beachhead, accompanied by Nangong Wudi's full report. Though completely occupying Jeju Island would inevitably mean assuming responsibility for feeding forty to fifty thousand local inhabitants, Feng Zongze judged the burden worthwhile.

Because exiles and official slaves were concentrated in designated areas, Jeju Island's population distribution was remarkably dense—sixty to seventy percent resided in the three cities and nine coastal garrisons. Achieving the goal of occupation, control, and utilization would be straightforward. The three cities and nine garrisons all contained ample official buildings. Jeongui might appear to be nothing more than a large walled village in terms of development, but the requisite government structures were all present: Government Office, drill ground, barracks, County School, granaries. Though the standards were modest, these were vacant buildings immediately available for use, saving considerable raw materials and labor that would otherwise go toward new construction.

Refugees from Shandong couldn't handle heavy physical labor initially, and they faced the additional challenge of acclimatization. Feng Zongze believed that during Operation Generator's early stages, local labor and facilities should be utilized extensively.

From this perspective alone, feeding these tens of thousands of commoners was hardly a losing proposition. The Senate's greatest shortage was population, and Koreans were equally suitable for full utilization.

Since the Senate was prepared even to assimilate and employ the commoners of Tonkin, a "Little China" like Korea proved an even more fitting candidate. Furthermore, should Jeju's population genuinely prove too large for the available food supply, they could use the returning fleet's empty tonnage—ships heading back after delivering refugees and supplies—to transport surplus population to Kaohsiung for development work. Their condition would still be far better than the Shandong refugees.

At the same time, such transfers would alter the island's demographic composition, solving the problem once and for all. A smug smile spread across his face at the thought.

Feng Zongze studied the map in his tent, marking and annotating the glass overlay with colored pencils. Military cleanup operations were proceeding exceptionally well. The special task force had already occupied Jeongui County Seat and the two nearby garrisons of Suji and Seogwi. Hundreds of Joseon soldiers had been captured. Excepting Daejeong, which remained temporarily in enemy hands, the entire southern line of Jeju Island had been essentially cleared of Joseon forces.

Summarizing reports from various detachments, the Joseon Dynasty's military strength on the island was extraordinarily weak. They possessed no capability to resist this invasion, nor even to mount harassment operations. The attacks on Suji and Seogwi garrisons had produced nothing that could properly be called combat—after the troops fired a few shots and dropped a handful of soldiers, the entire garrison had disbanded.

Judging from the two garrison operations, the armed status of the "Nine Garrisons"—defense posts established by the Joseon Dynasty across the island—was abysmal, with soldier numbers falling far short of authorized strength. According to captured Joseon soldiers, the gap between paper strength and actual manning exceeded fifty percent.

Each garrison maintained hundreds of official slaves to cultivate the government land allocated to support the military post. The original intention was self-sufficiency for the soldiers, but in reality—much like the Ming Dynasty's Wei-Suo system—the arrangement had long since decayed. Agricultural produce ended up largely in the pockets of local garrison commanders and officials.

Jeju Island was no fertile paradise, and agricultural output remained backward. For commanders and officials, fewer people meant more to share. They had no incentive to fill vacant positions.

These realizations deepened Feng Zongze's determination to seize Jeju quickly and completely.

That said, available troops were stretched thin. With a total landing force just over a thousand, garrisoning three locations would inevitably spread their forces dangerously. Based on intelligence from the Great Library and Foreign Intelligence Bureau and the General Staff's assessments, neither the Joseon Dynasty nor the Ming Dynasty would attempt an attack on the main island. External threats were essentially nonexistent. But maintaining internal security across the island still required considerable military strength.

The Joseon government and army had consistently proven ineffective during every foreign invasion. Instead, the "Righteous Army" militias mobilized by middle and lower-ranking scholar-officials and commoners had demonstrated far greater combat effectiveness. At the Jeju Island Special Task Force's Front Committee meeting, the three Senators unanimously agreed that military operations on the island should prioritize "public security" as the primary objective.

Rapidly seizing the island's ruling centers and controlling the officials, scholar-gentry, and landlords—if any existed—should eliminate potential resistance at its inception.

Second priority: swiftly organizing a local "puppet army"—no, that term was unacceptable. Feng Zongze reflected that such language implicitly acknowledged the legitimacy of Joseon rule over the territory.

A more suitable designation was needed. He considered the matter and decided: why not simply call it "Public Security Army"? The existing Public Security Army was already an irregular force composed of mercenaries. Since Japanese could serve in the Public Security Army, hiring Koreans was no different.

Locally recruited auxiliary forces played a crucial role in consolidating rule. After the Manchus breached Shanhai Pass, they prioritized forming the Green Standard Army in every newly occupied territory—"forming a battalion immediately upon occupying a place." Without the Green Standard Army continuously serving as occupation troops and cannon fodder, the Eight Banners could never have conquered all of China. Even in the twentieth century, with its heightened nationalist consciousness, the various puppet armies organized by the Japanese military had played significant roles in strangling resistance bases and obstructing guerrilla operations.

As the Senate's highest-ranking administrative official assigned to Jeju Island, Feng Zongze possessed full authorization from both Senate and Executive Committee. He held the authority to form "local public security forces" that "do not use firearms."

Beyond the Public Security Army, there had to be collaborators. Feng Zongze knew this wouldn't be difficult—every society harbored frustrated figures from all classes who nursed grievances against society and government for various reasons. Given the opportunity and the prospect of regime change, such people would emerge on their own.

He had no doubt: once they captured Jeju City and controlled the entire island, collaborators would materialize immediately.

Since Jeju Island concentrated official slaves and exiles, the pool of malcontents surely exceeded that of all eight provinces of Joseon combined. Finding collaborators among them should prove trivially easy. And that wasn't even counting the oppressed masses as potential "proletarian collaborators."

Feng Zongze and the other Senators also pinned hopes on another factor: the Chinese exiles on the island, including both Han Chinese and Mongols. According to background materials from the Great Library, the Yuan Dynasty had begun exiling prisoners to Tamna Island—as Jeju was then known—in its earliest years. Though Tamna had been annexed by Goryeo, the Mongols had actually controlled the island during the Yuan Dynasty. Besides exiling prisoners, the Yuan had transported pastoral slaves to breed horses—Jeju Island's emergence as a major horse-breeding center was in fact a Mongol legacy, the stock itself descended from imported Mongolian horses.

Mongol influence on Jeju had grown so considerable that when the Yuan Dynasty faced collapse, the court had contemplated relocating to Jeju Island and even begun palace construction there. After the Yuan fell, the Joseon Dynasty had expended great effort subduing the remaining Mongol pastoral slaves and fully annexing the island.

Though the Ming Dynasty never occupied Jeju, many Mongol nobles who had served the Yuan and Han bureaucrats loyal to the fallen dynasty had been exiled here. Zhu Yuanzhang himself had banished the Yuan Dynasty's Prince of Liang along with many subordinates to this very island. Many Korean family names common on the peninsula in the original timeline—Won (Yuan), Yang (Liang), An, Kang (Jiang)—were their descendants.

These people were not Koreans. Though they had spent hundreds of years on Jeju Island, differences from ordinary inhabitants should persist—and differences could be exploited.

Feng Zongze was still contemplating post-occupation administration when his secretary suddenly entered.

"Reporting to the Chief."

"What is it?"

"One of the Haenyeo has fallen seriously ill." The secretary hesitated. "You instructed me to monitor the Haenyeo's condition and report any developments immediately..."

The fishing village near Seongsan was now under their direct control. The villagers who had fled hadn't returned, so the captured Haenyeo remained in the camp.

"Understood. You did right." Feng Zongze nodded. "Send a medic to examine her."

Healing the wounded and saving the dying was the easiest way to win hearts. Since Jeju Island was to serve as a refugee camp, the first fleet had brought substantial quantities of medicine and disinfectant. Medical personnel were fully staffed. Providing some medical care to locals posed no difficulty.

He suddenly stopped the secretary as she turned to leave.

"Wait—I'll see her personally."

"Chief—" The secretary was surprised. She knew her master understood medicine, but hadn't expected a Senator to personally treat a lowly prisoner.

Feng Zongze rose, having made up his mind. If he intended to win hearts, he might as well do it thoroughly—starting with the prisoners at hand.

Though Haenyeo held humble status and possessed no influence whatsoever, once word spread that he had personally treated them, the effect would be considerable. Being a ruler required more than military force; propagating "benevolence and righteousness" was equally effective.

Haenyeo dove in deep water year-round, holding their breath for extended periods of underwater labor. High water pressure combined with oxygen deprivation made them susceptible to chronic headaches, hearing loss, tinnitus, gastrointestinal disorders, neuralgia, and arthritis. Strong winds and high humidity also produced frequent cases of coughing and asthma.

The afflicted Haenyeo suffered from an abscess—one of the most common ailments on Jeju Island. Among sea women, such infections were particularly prevalent, almost an occupational disease.

Every shrine on Jeju Island housed the Haenyeo Goddess and the Dragon King God—deities specifically invoked for protection against skin diseases. In shrines devoted to the Haenyeo Goddess, worshippers offered sacrificial rice topped with a boiled egg, expressing their fervent wish that their skin might become as white and smooth as the peeled shell.

The severely ill Haenyeo was none other than Pan. Feng Zongze needed no thermometer—her flushed face and cracked lips told him she was running a fever.

The inflammation had progressed considerably. He donned gloves and pressed with his fingers: a textbook abscess. The only cure was surgical incision and drainage.

(End of Chapter)