If there are no accidents, there will definitely be accidents. Sure enough, something unexpected happened to Zhu Su.
Starting that afternoon, black clouds suddenly gathered in the sky, as if they were about to collapse. There were also big waves on the sea, and the whole world seemed to be destroyed.
From Zhang He's expression as if facing a formidable enemy, Zhu Su learned a piece of news that frightened him: a storm was coming.
Storm at sea! Even if the armored fleets of later generations predicted the storm on the vast sea, they would still find ways to avoid its edge. Not to mention these "sampans" made of wood in the Ming Dynasty today.
Zhu Su immediately and decisively entrusted the command to the most experienced Zhang He, entrusting the life and death of the entire fleet to Zhang He's hands. Zhang He, who had obtained the command, made an immediate decision and led the fleet to turn around and return, preparing to return to the small island where they were stationed before the storm came. He waited until the storm subsided before planning his return to the Ming Dynasty.
After all, if you encounter a storm directly on the vast sea, it is roughly equivalent to sailing straight to the gate of hell...
However, God always disapproves. Before they even landed on the island.
The storm is coming.
…
…
"Your Highness, we are running out of fresh water on the ship. No matter how much we save, we may not have enough fresh water in two days."
"And the remaining ten or so ships were more or less damaged by the storm. According to General Zhang's visual inspection, the most serious ship can only survive for three more days."
"There is not much food left in the ship. During these days, most of the soldiers rely on sea fish to satisfy their hunger. Morale is getting lower and lower..."
In the dilapidated cabin, the dog reported to Zhu Su with a worried look on his face.
"Well, I got it. You go down first and help General Zhang." Zhu Su's heart sank after hearing this, and he waved his hand to signal the dog to go down. Behind him, he held his forehead anxiously, thinking about the next countermeasures.
"Above the sea... it is really dangerous!" Zhu Di looked at the dark clouds outside through the cracks in the damaged cabin, with a hint of disbelief in his tone. Who would have thought that a few days ago there was such a terrible storm, but today it is calm again?
This sea is like an extremely unpredictable and extremely dangerous god. At the last moment, he might have been communicating with you in a pleasant manner. And the next moment, without any warning, his expression changed and he summoned the power of heaven and earth to take your life.
Zhu Xi's head was sprayed when the storm came, and now his head was wrapped in a white scarf, which was put on the tattered prince's python robe, and he looked quite nondescript. He also has a sense of survival after a disaster. He sighed sincerely: "Previously, I thought that as the princes of the Ming Dynasty, we must be able to do what others cannot."
"You won't know until you encounter a storm. No matter what kind of prince you are, he is nothing in front of such power."
"A ship of this size is like a grain of rice dropped into Xuanwu Lake in this sea... The ship will capsize if the waves gently stir..."
"Fortunately, there is General Zhang He and Zhang." Zhu Su also sighed with great joy. "If it weren't for him, I'm afraid the three of us brothers would have been fed to the fishes long ago."
Fortunately, he handed over the command to Zhang He without any hesitation. When encountering a storm, Zhang He accurately predicted the location of the storm and led the fleet to avoid countless huge waves and whirlpools.
Although because of this, the fleet completely lost its way. When the storm came, the sky and the earth were as dark as ink, and it was impossible to tell the direction. There was no sunrise or moonset, and it was unknown how long it had been drifting on the sea.
But at least people like myself are still alive, right?
"I can finally understand why, Lao Wu, you value General Zhang so much." Zhu Di rubbed his sore neck. "It's extremely dangerous above the sea."
"If there were no generals like General Zhang, the army would encounter a storm on the sea..."
"I'm afraid that the whole army will be annihilated without even seeing the shadow of the enemy."
"Yeah." Zhu Su also nodded. "If the Ming Dynasty wants to develop in the future, it cannot do without maritime trade and conquest."
"Sea trade and conquest are inseparable from excellent captains and generals."
Thinking of this, Zhu Su couldn't help but smile bitterly. Now I am still thinking about what happened to Daming. It is clear that even my own situation is difficult to protect day by day.
If it has actually been swept to the Pacific Ocean by the storm... The vast ocean cannot reach the sky or the ground, and there are not enough supplies... Not to mention saving the seed of Zhang He, the naval admiral, for the Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that even I, my second brother Zhu Xi, and my third brother, Brother Zhu Fan will be buried here.
Now I can only pray to heaven that when the storm rages, people like myself are not swept too far from the land.
"Your Highness, General Zhang He would like to see you." Zhang He's voice came from outside.
"Come in!" Zhu Su quickly asked Zhang He to come in. Zhang He's eyes were sunken, and it was obvious that he had not slept well for several days.
"General Zhang, have you determined the location?" Zhu Su asked. "Just now, my servant informed me of some news."
"The supplies we are waiting for cannot last more than a few days. If we wait until the day when we run out of ammunition and food..." At this point, Zhu Su couldn't bear to say any more.
What will happen after we run out of ammunition and food? It was nothing more than a mutiny by the soldiers and being hacked to death by the soldiers. Or maybe he struggled to support himself and eventually starved to death at sea...
All in all, the fleet must find land within a few days, otherwise, everyone will have no way to survive.
As for how to find land, this important task rests on Zhang He's shoulders.
"...Now that the storm has subsided, there are still no stars in the sky." Zhang He shook his head bitterly. "I apologize for my incompetence. I cannot tell where we are."
"It's not your fault..." Zhu Su also sighed. If he could know the specific date and ensure that the ship remained stationary on the sea, he would have a way to roughly calculate the longitude and latitude of his location through calculations such as calculating the maximum length and shortest shadow of a day. But when fighting the storm in the past few days, no matter day or night, he couldn't see his fingers... He didn't know what date it was now.
"So General Zhang is here, does he have anything to tell me?" Zhu Su asked after reacting.
"At the end of my visit, I do have something I want to ask Your Highness for advice." Zhang He said, cupping his fists. "In fact, when the general commanded the fleet first, although most of them just fled passively, he still roughly judged the route of the storm, and it should be heading all the way north."
"Oh?" Zhu Su was delighted. All the way north?
As long as they don't drift eastward, it means that people like themselves haven't left the Ming Dynasty too far!
"Should..." Zhang He clasped his fists in shame. "It will just follow the general trajectory. We cannot rule out the possibility that we will still be blown deeper into the East China Sea."
"Now the general cannot tell the way forward, nor does he know how far away the Ming Dynasty is from us."
"Therefore, if you dare to be brave, can you ask Your Highness to order the fleet to go straight to the west? If you are lucky, maybe you can land at our Daming Port..."
"Of course, the west may also be the Japanese Kingdom, it may be Liaodong, or it may be the land of the Mongolian and Yuan Jurchens. Even... it is still the vast sea." Zhang He said with difficulty.
(End of chapter)
