I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 238 Pirates

As Christmas approaches, the festive atmosphere in Vladivostok becomes even more intense.

The staff of Yuriev Palace changed all the street lights inside and outside Yuriev Palace into festive red lanterns overnight, and the guards also changed into palace dresses only worn on holidays.

On Christmas night, there will be a grand fireworks display at Yuriev Palace, which can be seen from half of Vladivostok.

As the end of the year approaches, George's work is getting busier and busier.

The stalls in Vladivostok are getting bigger and bigger, and there are more and more people. This year, the population of Vladivostok officially exceeded 10, setting a new high.

George remembered that when the Tsar granted Amur to George, there were only 1.1 people in Vladivostok.

Five years have passed, and the population of Vladivostok has increased from 1.1 to 10. Compared with the scale, George is more satisfied with the quality.

Five years ago, Vladivostok was either a hodgepodge of deported criminals, refugees, or foreign workers, a concentration camp for a problematic population.

Now the number of Cossacks alone has exceeded 3, the number of workers has reached 2, the number of engineers has exceeded 3, and there are about 2.5 students in school. The situation is excellent.

In addition to the permanent population, there are approximately 10 foreign workers in Vladivostok.

Today's foreign workers are different from before. Even if winter comes, they no longer leave Vladivostok because there is always unfinished work here.

After a busy year, the days from Christmas to New Year are a rare break.

In order to improve efficiency, the factory in Vladivostok has begun to implement an eight-hour work system and has six days off and one day off to provide workers with more rest time.

In order to allow the citizens of Vladivostok to have a happy holiday, the Vladivostok Municipal Government took early action and built two large material distribution centers in Vladivostok to ensure the supply of materials during the holiday.

"We have stockpiled 1,000 tons of fish and pork, 5,000 tons of potatoes, 2,000 tons of cabbage and radishes, 10,000 chickens -"

Mikhail took the initiative to introduce George to the material distribution center near the port.

It sounds like a lot. One thousand tons is one million kilograms. On average, it weighs ten kilograms on each person's head. It must be enough for the holidays.

But after the festival, there are still nearly four months of winter in Vladivostok. What should we do during this time?

"This is just part of it. Our strategic reserve warehouse in Bear Mountain also stores more than 10,000 tons of fish. The farms around Vladivostok can provide 10,000 eggs every day. Now every farm has a chicken farm and The number of pig farms, cattle and sheep is growing every month.”

Mikhail is quite optimistic. Even if the eggs are not enough, at least there will be enough fish and meat.

Vladivostok schools will provide each student with an egg and 250 grams of milk to supplement nutrition.

This part is free.

On this basis, the farm can also provide 10,000 eggs to the urban area every day, which is not easy.

This year, the population of Vladivostok has almost doubled. The city government has underestimated the growth rate of the population, so supplies are a bit tight.

Next year, farms around Vladivostok will expand the scale of chicken and pig farms, and by then the material supply capacity will be further improved.

George could only be grateful that fortunately there was still a strategic material warehouse in Xiongshan.

There are more than 500 fishing boats in Vladivostok, and fishing boats with a tonnage of more than 100 tons account for about % of the total.

These fishing boats leave early and return late, making a huge contribution to the material supply in Vladivostok.

The output of the Vladivostok Shipyard will be further increased next year, and the supply of fish and meat will continue to increase. This is where Mikhail's confidence lies.

Even if there are no eggs to eat.

You can also eat fish, what’s not satisfying about that!

"What are those people from the Academy of Sciences doing? Let them start researching the preservation technology of vegetables and fruits to increase the supply of vegetables and fruits."

George is not satisfied with the status quo. Let’s not talk about tomatoes and cucumbers. At least eggplants, beans, apples and bananas should be available in winter.

"Let the Academy of Sciences research preservation technology?"

Mikhail hesitated slightly, this seemed a bit wasteful.

"The Academy of Sciences not only serves the empire, but also serves the citizens of the empire."

George was informal.

Who says scientists must study aircraft and cannons?

In other words, who said that only those who study aircraft and cannons can become scientists?

George is concerned about grand narratives, but also about the dignity of ordinary people. How can he have the energy to study aircraft and cannons when his stomach is not full.

In fact, preservation technology is really not that complicated, it is just a process of trial and error.

Every household in the Vladivostok farm has a vegetable cellar. If the vegetables in the vegetable cellar are stored properly, they can be stored for half a year.

It’s hard to say how long bananas will last.

If you store the apples in a cellar, they should be fine for half a year.

This way it's very simple.

Vladivostok has nothing but a big place.

If you need a cellar, dig it.

It’s not about whether these things can be solved, but whether they are willing to be solved.

As long as you want to solve it, you can always find a way.

"But where are we going to get so many apples?"

Mikhail was worried that apples were not grown locally in Vladivostok.

George did not mean to supply a specific group of people, but all Vladivostok people.

The current population of Vladivostok is one hundred thousand.

There will definitely be more next year.

Even if there is no increase, if 100,000 people each have an apple every day for half a year——

Mikhail felt a little dizzy.

“When we go to Jeju, we can spend our own money to plant as much as we want—”

George was not afraid of trouble.

The temperature in Jeju is very suitable for growing apples.

If apples were grown entirely in a small area of ​​2,000 square kilometers, there should be enough for the people of Vladivostok to eat. There should be no problem if the East Indian plantation model is transplanted to Jeju.

According to this idea, other fruits should also be grown.

If Jeju is not suitable, just continue to look for a place south.

The only regret is that even if we start planting next year, if we want to eat Jeju apples, we will have to wait at least five years.

That’s okay.

To put it another way, you can actually eat Jeju apples in five years.

It really feels much better when I think about it this way.

When George was thinking about Jeju, someone was also thinking about Jeju.

Due to the breakdown of the icebreaker in Vladivostok this winter, transportation between Jeju and Vladivostok has been cut off, and there are a lot of immigrants stranded in Jeju.

By December, more than 12 immigrants were waiting for transfer in Jeju.

With so many people staying on the island, they can't be idle every day, so Danila organized immigrants to reclaim wasteland.

There is still a lot of arable land on Jeju Island, certainly hundreds of thousands of acres, but Jeju will definitely not regard agriculture as its main development direction. It will be enough to reclaim some wasteland and grow some food to meet daily consumption.

"These Qing people are so pitiful. They are good at farming, but they have never owned land. The situation in the Qing country is similar to ours. Most of the land is concentrated in the hands of lords and landlords."

Danila's deputy Akim is also a Cossack and just retired from the Odessa Military District last year.

Akmu served in the Guards for ten years and made meritorious service in the Tenth Russo-Turkish War. According to regulations, Akmu was eligible to become an officer.

As fate would have it, Akmu not only failed to become an officer, but was transferred to the Odessa Military District because he offended his superiors. Akmu retired angrily and immigrated to Vladivostok.

"Choose some good farmers and keep them here. Our land here also needs people to take care of it."

Danila chicken thief, first screen the people in advance.

"This can't be done. General Ye Luoxin won't strip us of our skins——"

The relationship between Akmu and Ye Luoxin is far less close than that between Danila and Ye Luoxin.

"Don't worry, the general won't come to Jeju at all——"

Before Danila finished speaking, Jin Solo hurried over.

"There's a ship coming from the outer harbor."

"Come just come -"

Danila didn't take it to heart. Jeju Port had begun to open, and occasionally civilian ships came into the port to add coal and water.

"The ship has been hanging around the outer harbor for an hour. There must be something wrong."

Kim Sora is a Korean and is responsible for the management of Koreans on Jeju Island.

Danila and Akim boarded the lighthouse and used telescopes to observe.

Something really isn't right.

This is not an ordinary civilian ship. Judging from the appearance of the ship, it looks a bit like an armed merchant ship.

Today's ocean-going merchants sometimes also work part-time as pirates, which gives birth to such weirdos as armed merchant ships.

Many pirate ships were also armed merchant ships.

Daniella noticed that someone on the bow of the ship was also using a telescope to look here.

And there are two ships heading towards Jeju in the distance.

"Ring the bell and assemble the guards!"

Danila's reaction was correct.

Before the guards had assembled, three armed merchant ships suddenly opened fire on Jeju Island.

"The other party is a pirate, prepare to fight!"

Akmu and Jinsuoluo went to gather their troops separately.

boom--

A solid artillery shell pellet landed on the roof of a house, smashing through the entire house with alarming force.

Jeju Port has no artillery and can only be beaten passively.

Akmu and Jinsuoluo commanded the troops to enter the combat position and waited for the pirates to land in the port.

Danila led 150 Cossack riflemen as a reserve team, and a stretcher brigade of nearly 200 people was responsible for transporting the wounded.

"Send a message to the Siberian Fleet, we need support."

Danila could only be thankful that the Siberian fleet was wintering in Nagasaki.

Although the broken ships of the Siberian Fleet cannot fight against the British Royal Navy, they can still deal with pirates.

Jeju is less than 300 kilometers away from Nagasaki, and it will take at least a day for the Siberian fleet to arrive.

During this period, Daniela and the others can only rely on themselves.

If it were just pirates, Danila wouldn't be too worried, because in addition to a battalion of troops, there are four heavy machine guns on the island. As long as the pirates dare to land, they will die as many as they come.

But if they were pirates disguised as regular troops, it would be hard to say.

The pirates were not in a hurry and used artillery fire slowly away from the port. The houses near the dock suffered heavy losses, and several fishing boats docked in the port were also sunk.

This is obviously not a pirate style.

The purpose of pirates is to make money and will not damage port facilities.

(End of this chapter)