Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1217 Oil, oil seedlings

In the tropical jungle of Sumatra, heavily armed soldiers escorted a drilling team to search for oil fields here.

The first oil field discovered by Royal Shell in Southeast Asia is nearby, and Shell employees who were called to this world in the late 19th century knew that there was oil here.

Of course, they don't know that there is the largest Minas oil field in Indonesia in the east of Sumatra.Moreover, with the current drilling technology, it is still impossible to exploit the large oil field 800 meters underground.

The oil fields that the Kyushu Army is now looking for are shallow oil fields that were discovered in the 19th century, and the crude oil and semi-finished products that have been extracted will be transported back to the mainland to form the first batch of oil reserves.

In addition to the purpose of sending a North American expedition to find gold mines, oil may also be a very important consideration.

After the joint forces of Huang Degong and Tachibana Tadamo captured Medan, they left 1000 troops to build a bastion in Medan, and then drove the captured local villagers to open up the thorny jungle as farmland.

A large force of 2000 troops landed in Pangkalan Susu, built a fort near the coast, and then divided another 500 troops to lead a drilling team deep into the jungle to find a village.

According to the memories of employees of Royal Shell, there is a good oil field near the village, which can extract a large amount of kerosene.

"Damn it, it's really hot here, and there are too many snakes, rats and ants." The armored warriors kept complaining, but they couldn't take off their armor, otherwise they would be bitten by snakes, rats and ants in the jungle.

"This place is about twenty miles away from the river. As long as we have a good direction, we should be able to find that village...but it's hard to say." The employees of the oil drilling team were not so sure that they would be able to find the village near the oil field.

Because this is the world 200 years ago, who knows if the village 200 years from now would have existed 200 years ago?
200 years is enough to change the world.

In addition to the memories of Shell employees, geologists were on the drilling crews to determine the geological structures that formed the fields, as well as information about the fields.

"Boa constrictor!" Someone in the expedition exclaimed. They saw a long boa constrictor perched on a tree branch.

A few soldiers hastily raised their muskets and fired at the python, and soon the big python fell powerlessly from the branch.

This kind of king in the jungle is only the target of being slaughtered under the salvo of muskets.

Some daring warriors and soldiers walked towards the bushes where the boa constrictor landed with muskets and broadswords in their hands, and used Japanese long knives and bayonets to pick apart the nearby bushes, and saw the boa constrictor that fell just now.

The boa constrictor was shot in several places, bleeding profusely.

"Cut off the intact part, and don't want the part where the bullet was shot."

The sharp blade flashed coldly, and the soldiers cut off the intact part of the giant python.

This is a rare delicacy for them who are deep in the jungle.

However, what is terrible in the tropical jungle is far from the large beasts, but some small poisonous insects. Some team members were bitten by mosquitoes and contracted malaria. This is the deadliest thing.

Due to the non-combat attrition caused by malaria, the losses caused by the No.12 Corps were far higher than the losses in the battle with the indigenous troops of Aceh.

As early as after the Nanyang War, Chu Yun considered a strategy to deal with malaria. He used the cinchona bark used by the Indians to treat malaria. He asked people to plant cinchona trees in Yunnan, and then extract quinine from them to treat malaria.

However, the production of quinine is a drop in the bucket compared to the widespread spread of malaria.

The drilling team is searching for the legendary village near the oil field near Pangkalan Susu.

They broke into several villages one after another, but they just swept past and did not capture the local villagers.

This oil exploration team is here to find oil fields, not to open up plantations, and bringing a group of villagers will hinder them.

Although the oil field here is only 20 miles away from the river, it covers 100 square kilometers on a plane. It is undoubtedly a strenuous task to find oil fields in such a large area.

Just as the food carried by the oil exploration team was about to run out and they planned to return to the harbor for supplies, they found another village.

According to the previous practice, the oil exploration team besieged the local villagers and asked them the name of the place.

"There should be a shallow oil field near this village!" The employees of Royal Shell Petroleum Company heard the local villagers pronounce their village name, and probably judged that this is the location of the first oil field that Royal Shell Petroleum Company found in Southeast Asia. .

Tadamo Tachibana, who led the team, had a bright eye. He didn't know what oil was, but it was an important resource that the military was looking for. If he helped the drilling team find this resource, it would be equivalent to his meritorious service.

"Surround this village and capture them!" Tadashi Tachibana led the warriors to surround the village suspected of having oil.

Everyone is innocent and guilty. In the era of the law of the jungle, what oil brings to the villagers of this village is not wealth, but disaster.

"Save their lives. If oil is indeed extracted here, a group of cheap oil workers will be needed at that time." The employee of Shell said.

"Then block the village first." Tachibana Tadashige commanded the samurai to guard all the exits of the village.

In addition to the samurai mercenaries, there are also soldiers from the No.12 Corps holding muskets in every corner, deterring the villagers in the village.

The experts and workers of the drilling team carefully checked the village and the surrounding area.

This is a relatively primitive village in the jungle, mostly thatched palm houses.

The drilling team suspected that the oil was not located in the village, but found a pond filled with crude oil some distance away from the village.

"Oil seedlings!" The petroleum expert squatted on the ground, dipped his fingers in the crude oil in the pond and put it on the tip of his nose, exclaiming.

Oil seedlings are regarded as the outcropping of oil in the earth's crust on the ground, and are one of the important signs for finding oil deposits.

Oil seedlings were found here, indicating that there is a great possibility that there are oil fields nearby.

The drilling team quickly set up drilling equipment and started digging near the oil seedlings.

Tadashi Tachibana and a group of samurai came to the side of the Youmiao Pond and saw the black viscous liquid, but they didn't understand what the liquid was for.

"This liquid will burn when it comes into contact with an open flame. Never ignite it." Petroleum experts reminded them.

"We have spent so much time and effort to find such a thing? Not only is it sticky, but the smell is also very pungent." Tachibana Tadamo was also stained with oil. what effect.

(End of this chapter)