Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1205 Epilogue
"Yes, yes, Xiao Zishang specially arranged for you a special box for the elders, which contains everything from clean clothes to food." Bei Wei saw that these people looked good, but they looked a little slovenly, except for Mendoza. Other than that, everyone had stubble, and because of the hot weather, a few of them were wearing ragged cotton jackets and big pants.

A group of people welcomed Beiwei into the camp. After a few days of construction, the place has begun to take shape. Zhou Weisen said that the food is almost there-every day is compressed grass rations + seafood porridge. I got a few barrels from the Spanish ship. The bacon and corned beef, and some cheese, terrific in appearance and smell, were given to the Spanish captives with biscuits infested with weevils.

Because the repair of the San Remondo has not been completed, the Haitian must stay here for a few more days. In order to speed up the repair, more tools were brought from the Haitian to help with the repair.

Bei Wei and others took this opportunity to go to the wreck site of the Nongchao to check the hull again to see if there was any possibility of rescue—they had to report to the executive committee.

The result of the inspection was that the jettison was seriously damaged. Zhou Weisen conducted a snorkeling exploration and found that the underwater hull was severely damaged, and some of the ribs had been deformed. Lingao repaired.

After sending the report to Lingao, a response was quickly received: Nengchao will be punished on the spot, and no debris will be left as much as possible.

The sailors immediately dismantled all available parts: nautical instruments and equipment, fire control equipment, sails, sail cables, and some detachable ship materials-including the exposed propeller.As for the light weapons, ammunition and onboard tools on the ship, they had already landed before the typhoon hit, and there was no need to fish them again. As for the ammunition used by the cannon, they had to give up because they were too heavy.Then, the anchor and anchor chain, a 130mm main gun and two 2mm secondary guns were picked up from the reef with winches and tackles. The other guns either sank too deep or disappeared.

Finally, they removed the steering wheel and ship's bell from the Chaochao, and the navy installed a high-density packed black powder explosive package on the remaining hull.For the sake of caution, holes were specially drilled in the hull, and explosives were dropped into the power cabin.

On the afternoon of July 7, after all the personnel saluted the wreckage of the Nongchao, the gunpowder detonated, and the wreckage of the Nongchao was blown to pieces, and no part emerged from the water.

Afterwards, the Haitian lifted anchor and towed the San Raimundo back.On the wide deck of the Galen ship, after the marines fired three salvos into the sky, the formation raised their sails and set sail.On Samar Island, there are only two small stone monuments left on the hills by the coast. One is the "Hunger" Victory Monument, and the other commemorates the sinking of the Chaochao and the four naval soldiers who died here.

Not far from these two monuments, there is also a tombstone lying on the ground, where the dead crew members of the San Raimundo are buried.

In Lingao, the incident of the tide sinking has been conveyed among the elders.Shan Liang made a proposal at the Standing Committee of the Senate: requesting a detailed investigation of the entire incident, questioning the Executive Committee, and requesting to investigate the procedural legality of the specific command of this naval operation.Du Wen, on the other hand, published "Comment on the Great Damage of Opportunism and Adventurism to the Traveling Cause" in the "Venus" magazine, denouncing this operation from the very beginning as an adventure by a group of selfish opportunists. Actions do not conform to the planned, disciplined and overall-oriented action guidelines that travelers should have.

Naturally, some people had a heated debate on whether to protect the people or the ship in an emergency. For a while, the question of which is more important, the veteran or the 901 gunboat, and which is more important, the veteran or the American silver, was also raised.

Obviously, no one dares to say that 901 is more important than the elders—this is seriously politically incorrect in Lingao.However, it got entangled with the subsequent attack on the San Remondo: Zhou Weisen and Lin Chuanqing took the risk of attacking the enemy in a state of insecurity. Is there an element of adventurism to wash away their own mistakes?
Due to the uproar, at Qian Shuiting's proposal, a committee was formed to conduct a special investigation into the sinking of the Nongchao.

The Commission of Inquiry conducted several hearings on this issue and subsequently issued a report:
First, the committee found that Operation Starvation was legal—an operation that had been proposed and voted to formally approve under the patriarchal-military proposal system.The committee reminded the senators that the senators have the right to question the rationality and necessity of the action, but they have no right to deny its legality. Any speech that denies the legality of the action is regarded as a contempt for the authority of the Senate.

Secondly, regarding whether Lin Chuanqing's abandonment of the ship to ensure safety was an act of cowardice, the committee held that: Although according to the testimony provided by naval witnesses, when a ship encounters a typhoon, the general method is to sail the ship to the open sea, which is relatively safe. There is a high probability of keeping the ship, of course, there is also a certain probability of the ship being destroyed.

A ship that is not faulty and fully equipped, sheltering from the wind on the shore when a typhoon hits is the practice of protecting people but not the ship, which is a serious violation of military discipline in the navy.However, the committee also pointed out that according to the guiding ideology of the Senate that "senators are primary productive forces" and "senators' interests are above all else", Lin Chuanqing's act of abandoning the ship was not only to ensure his own safety, but also to protect Zhou Weisen, Sun Xiao and others. Including the personal safety of the three elders of Mendoza, the measures are appropriate.

Third, Zhou Weisen and Lin Chuanqing's attack on the San Raimundo was completely within the framework mission of Operation Hunger.The task given by Operation Starvation is: Attack Manila Galen as appropriate, and seize ships and goods.From this point of view, as long as the mission is not declared over, any attack by Zhou Weisen and Lin Chuanqing on Manila Galen is reasonable and legal.

Fourth, whether Zhou Weisen and others interfered with Lin Chuanqing's command in terms of the choice on the issue of returning to the voyage.The committee held that none of the elders in the formation was liable in jurisprudence.According to the current "Military and Political Consultation System for Elders" formulated by the Senate, when there are many elders present and opinions cannot be unified, major decisions must be made by voting.So the vote and the result are legal.However, the committee clearly pointed out that there are serious drawbacks in the actual application of this system, and it is easy to cause outsiders to interfere with expert command and the state of "everyone has the right, and everyone is not responsible".It is suggested that the Senate carry out reforms on this issue, so that powers and responsibilities are integrated.

Finally, the Commission concluded that, while the loss of a warship is distressing, the loss of warships and ships is inevitable in conquests, provided that the commanders have not made mistakes in the specific command, No one should be held liable for such losses.

Qian Shuiting was not surprised that this conclusion was passed by a two-thirds majority after being read by the Senate.No one dared to touch the high-tension line, which is more important than the elders and 901, so it would be difficult to deny the hunger operation through this - let alone the huge spoils won by this operation.

However, this incident also caused another impact, that is, the "Military and Major Operations Command Act" submitted by Dongmen Chuyu, which stipulates that the command of any military operations and major operations must be issued by the Senate and the Executive Committee Targeted requirements are then formulated by the General Staff and handed over to the commander for specific implementation.

During execution, the tactical decisions of the campaign are issued by the commander, and other veterans can only provide suggestions on the means of execution and cannot interfere in the decision-making.It avoids the problem that everyone makes decisions in such major actions and everyone does not assume responsibility.

While conducting the hearing investigation, the Planning Institute conducted a comprehensive inventory of the two galleons towed to Lingao.Originally, the two ships had to berth at the quarantine anchorage for a period of time before opening the cargo inspection, but the executive committee couldn't wait any longer, and finally decided to disinfect the entire ship immediately.

The rest of the chlorine gas brought back by the Haitian was poured into the cabin of the San Raimundo, and a large-scale poisoning was carried out on the interior of the cabin. Facts have proved that the chlorine gas is very effective.Afterwards, the bodies of hundreds of rats and countless insects were cleaned out from the cabins below the decks of the two ships.

Hygienists wore isolation suits and sprayed disinfectant inside the ship. Afterwards, the sealed goods were carried up one by one, registered and recorded, loaded on a small train, and pulled to the quarantine warehouse to unpack and check one by one.

The quarantine warehouse area is very large - all imported goods must be quarantined here, and if necessary, they must be disinfected. In fact, this is what the current Lingao customs is mainly doing.

The warehouse prepared for Manila Galen is the largest one. Under the roof supported by huge iron trusses, packages and boxes of trophies are being pushed here by rail cars, and they are arranged one by one according to the area.

More than 100 naturalized workers were brought in. They came from various departments: customs, planning institute, police, army and students from Fangcaodi.Now they are all wearing white isolation gowns: the ties behind the back are reversed, there are no pockets all over the body, and they wear hats, protective glasses and gloves.

"Team up in groups of five, and open the bags one by one for inspection!" Sun Xiao, wearing the same clothes, shouted with a loudspeaker, "All items must be reported and reported, and any abnormalities found should be reported in time! Start now!"

The Planning Institute is most concerned with precious metals—this is also the main target of this operation.Therefore, any small reinforced iron box that may be loaded with silver and gold is the priority to open.The boxes were opened one by one, and the items inside were sorted and spread out on special plates, and were registered and counted by a special person.The gold coins, silver coins, gems, and pearls that were continuously taken out immediately made the entire warehouse full of jewels and sparkles.

(End of this chapter)