The convoy sailed for eight consecutive days. Except for Dr. Zhong who was severely seasick and bedridden, nothing happened along the way.
The displacement of the "Spanish Whore" is small, and the stability of the ship is relatively poor. The sea will be bumpy if there is a little wind and waves. Zhong Lishi had not been out to sea much since the D day and was very uncomfortable. Fortunately, Zhong Xiaoying did not get seasick and took care of him all the way. Because Zhong Xiaoying was also on the ship, Liu Zheng and Fang Jinghan felt embarrassed to share a room with Dr. Zhong again. Although Xiaoying repeatedly stated that it didn't matter, they moved to the crew's steerage cabin to sleep in a berth.
By the morning of the ninth day, the fleet began to become particularly nervous. A signal came from the flagship: all ships were asked to be put on alert.
The number of gunners guarding the gun emplacements and the number of sailors on the lookout increased. The "Spanish Whore" itself is small, and once the battle preparations begin, the cabin becomes even more turbulent. Soldiers and sailors came and went, the hum of carrying cannonballs and gunpowder, and the pretentious roars of the noncommissioned officers.
Liu Zheng had been "stirring up" in the cabin for a long time. He heard that there might be a martial arts show to watch. Today was a calm day, so he asked Fang Jinghan and Dr. Zhong to go up to the deck to have a look. First release of this book [Stay up late and read] No pop-ups
Dr. Zhong went to sea for several days and got used to sailing under the careful care of his adopted daughter. He heard that there were police officers at sea. He didn't want to go aboard, but he thought that this small broken ship had no armor and was not an oak ship several inches thick. The shell is not necessarily safe below the deck. If I am looked down upon by these two emperors, it will be very inconvenient for me to carry out work in Taiwan in the future. I followed him pretending to be nonchalant, but I had already put it on my head. A steel helmet for senators.
The officer on duty did not stop them, and they boarded the deck smoothly. On the deck, the sailors were in their respective positions, and the gun jackets had been taken off, but the ammunition had not been loaded yet. From the deck one could see the entire convoy of ships plowing through the waves. The brisk two-masted patrol boat then moved quickly through the fleet.
Although the size of the convoy was not large, it was enough to excite Dr. Zhong, who had witnessed the majesty of the Senate's naval formation at sea for the first time. He held his hand on the bulwark and looked greedily at everything on the sea.
What he didn't know was that these two-masted patrol boats were no longer the ones that set out from Lingao. A few days ago in the sea east of Hong Kong, the escort team sent by the Coast Guard from Lingao had broken away from the formation and returned. Now it is the First Fleet of the Navy. patrol boats were escorting.
Liu Zheng and Fang Jinghan are no longer interested in these. They took Dr. Zhong to the stern, where the captain was observing with a telescope.
This ship is assigned to the long-range exploration team, so Liu Zheng is familiar with the captain. The captain's name is Chen Song, an old man with a white beard. He is an experienced fire captain who has been running boats for many years and has sailed to Southeast Asia more than a dozen times. I have also been to Taiwan, Siam, Japan and other places. I have driven ships for merchants and done business without capital. The situation at sea is very familiar, and I have retired to the countryside of Guangzhou. After the Australians bombarded Guangzhou, he saw that all the sea heroes who had taken refuge with the Australians were acting like dogs. Although I had some savings at home, I still felt that my family's financial resources were too small, and several of my children and grandchildren were not successful, so I became a "wife" again, and my whole family came to Gao to join the Australians. It didn't take long for him to become a captain because he was familiar with the sea conditions. Because he was too old and not suitable for queue service, the Navy put him into the reserve force and became the captain of the "Spanish Prostitute".
Although this old man is over sixty-one years old, his body and bones are still exceptionally strong. As soon as he saw Liu Zheng and others, he greeted with his thunderous voice: "How is my boat? I feel comfortable serving you."
"It's okay, just like you, a little old..."
"A good old age. Defeat the fire." The old man squinted his eyes and smiled. He was wearing a sloppy navy uniform and the rank of reserve navy lieutenant. The military uniform was worn properly, except that the top two buttons were loosened, leaving the chest open. The homespun jacket underneath was exposed. Not wearing the standard navy shirt.
"What, are there any enemies?"
"No," Chen Song put down the telescope, "We will soon reach the dog fight. This is the most dangerous place on the route. If Zheng Zhilong or the red-haired ghost wants to intercept us, this is the most likely part of the voyage. "
This area is the only way for routes to Taiyuan, Bengang and Kaohsiung. In the past six months, the Senate's fleet has been shuttled continuously. If the enemy is determined to intercept them, this section of the voyage is the most suitable place.
For this reason, every batch of convoys sailing here will increase their alert status.
Dr. Zhong knew that this was just a routine matter, and his initially flustered mood suddenly calmed down. At this time, he felt that he was wearing a helmet that was very awkward, and the helmet quickly became hot under the blazing sun. He quickly and quietly took it off.
In order to cover up his embarrassment, he asked: "Did Zheng Zhilong do anything with the Dutch?"
"I've been here several times in the past six months, and a few boats did come close occasionally. But they didn't do anything." Chen Song said nonchalantly, "They have to be brave, let alone the Dutch, the boats are small and look like Let's touch it. Zheng Zhilong's boats are so dilapidated that they won't fall apart immediately after being hit with a cannon."
Several people were silent. It was obvious that neither Zheng Zhilong nor the Dutch were willing to show a hostile attitude. They used old boats and small boats during reconnaissance, obviously to avoid misfire.
Dr. Zhong took this opportunity to ask about the current results of offshore azimuth testing.
Due to the lag in the development of marine clocks, the current maritime fleet mainly adopts the mode of pilot ship piloting. There is a ship equipped with an old time and space quartz watch as the pilot ship, and the flagship is also equipped with a clock as a backup. First release of this book [Stay up late and read] No pop-ups
For those more important ships, the captain is directly issued a mechanical watch brought from the old time and space, but this is limited to a very small number of ships.
However, this method is not reliable. The mechanical watch may stop and the pilot ship may be separated or sunk in the wind and waves. Therefore, for most ships under the command of the Senate, the "lunar distance method" was used to determine longitude.
To put it simply, a sextant is used to observe the distance between the moon and the sun to determine the longitude of the ship.
In 1514, the German astronomer Johann Werner discovered through observations that the relative position of the moon in the sky is changing every moment, moving approximately one moon diameter per hour. He assumed that the moon observed on the earth The behavior is the same. As long as you observe the moon in two places and accurately record the time when it moves to a certain position, you can calculate the longitude difference between the two places.
But this "lunar distance method" requires an accurate and complete star catalog. In the old time and space, it took astronomers decades to observe and map it out. However, this is not a problem for the Science and Technology Department of the Senate, which stands on the shoulders of giants. With the help of existing astronomical data, computers, and astronomical software, Dr. Zhong easily produced accurate star catalogs for the northern and southern hemispheres, and then calculated the "Lunar Distance Table" for each year starting from 1631. Therefore, the Ministry of Science and Technology published the "Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris" in 1632, which listed the relationship between lunar distance and longitude for the entire year of 1632, and also attached a special slide rule. Using a slide rule and an almanac, sailors could calculate longitude in 20 minutes. As for the accuracy, it is also within the acceptable range.
However, Chen Song was quite critical of this method - because the lunar distance method requires considerable mathematical calculation ability. Although Dr. Zhong introduced a special slide rule and number table, which greatly simplified the calculation difficulty, most of them were illiterate. It is really difficult for the captain. Fortunately, most ships currently take traditional routes, and there is little need for accurate longitude measurements. I managed to make do with it. Ships heading to Taiwan and Jeju Island are equipped with naval cadets to act as navigators and perform calculation and navigation tasks.
Captain Chen was complaining when the signal soldier came to report that a signal was sent from the flagship. There was an "unidentified ship" sailing three nautical miles away from the formation, and the escorting patrol boat had already gone for inspection.
Zhong Lishi picked up his Russian telescope and looked in the direction pointed by the captain. Sure enough, there was a lonely Dafu ship on the sea, and the nearby two-masted patrol boat was quickly approaching the target.
The other party obviously had no intention of resisting, and quickly dropped the sail. The marines on the patrol boat boarded the ship and began to inspect the entire ship.
The sailors were dressed like Ming people, and they spoke with an authentic Southern Fujian accent. The marine sergeant looked at the ship owners who came out to greet them. They all seemed to be from the Ming Dynasty.
After interrogation, we found out that this was a lucky ship going from Quanzhou to Dayuan. The ship was carrying indigo and sugar from Fujian, as well as more than 200 immigrants from Fujian. In order to obtain labor and increase taxes, the Dutch imposed restrictions on the immigrants shipped there. The ship owner offered good reward conditions.
The inspection also proved that the ship boss was not lying. In addition to trade goods and immigrants, the ship also carried some groceries. Although there were a few cannons and gunpowder lead used for self-defense, there was nothing unusual. So the patrol boat let them leave after the inspection.
The boss of the ship nodded and bowed, watching the patrol sailboat pass over the waves and quickly catch up with the fleet that had gone away, with a glimmer of light in his eyes.
The "Spanish prostitute" slowly entered Kaohsiung Port under the tugboat - the name of the dog was too "vulgar", and the Government Affairs Council has ordered that the place name be changed to "Kaohsiung" according to the original time and space.
As Taiwan's bridgehead, the Standing Committee of the Senate originally recommended the establishment of "Taiwan State" or "Taiwan Province" in Kaohsiung during the meeting, but the Government Council believes that the current control of Taiwan is limited to Kaohsiung. The whole of Tainan has not yet been unified. It is too early to directly establish "states" or "provinces".
It was finally decided to only establish a "city" in Kaohsiung. The "mayor" of this city is a veteran named Wei Bachi.
At this time, he was sitting under the eaves of the customs gallery at the dock, preparing to welcome the arrival of the senator.
