The southernmost tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, is known as the most dangerous sea area on earth. A huge fleet is sailing with difficulty.
This is the fleet of the Great Chu Empire's expedition to South Africa, consisting of most of the capital ships of the African fleet, a group of armed merchant ships of Western trading companies, ordinary merchant ships, and a group of ordinary civilian ships of shipping companies that were temporarily requisitioned with compensation.
There are a total of fifty-seven ships of various sizes.
Although the smallest ship in this fleet has a full load tonnage of over a thousand tons, the largest one reaches more than 4,000 tons. This ship of more than 4,000 tons is an ocean freighter of the Southern Shipping Company, and it itself has accepted military orders. They were hired to transport various port hoisting equipment, construction equipment and materials, as well as some ammunition supplies from the mainland.
These materials were originally prepared for the future construction of Cape Town Port.
According to the plan of the upper echelons of the Dachu Empire, they are going to capture Cape Town and build a large military fortress with the ability to garrison a large number of troops, berth a large number of ships, and be able to provide supplies and simple maintenance for the ships.
Such Cape Town will become the gateway to guard the sea pass of the Cape of Good Hope, and will also be the bridgehead for the Chu Empire to penetrate deep into the Atlantic Ocean and colonize Europe in the future.
Therefore, various port equipment and building materials are indispensable. Not only equipment and materials are coming, but also a group of Western Trading Company engineers and engineering troops directly under the Navy.
The huge fleet was bumping forward on the sea. The main sail of each ship had been lowered, but in front of the ship, a very distinctive small orange-red triangle sail was raised. This is very special and is specially used for sailing. A storm sail for sailing in strong winds and waves.
At the same time, the steam engines on each ship are at full power output, allowing the ships to maintain strong steam engine power. They can choose to sail with the waves or against the waves as much as possible according to the direction of the waves, so as to avoid the most dangerous maritime navigation and various shipwrecks. The number one killer is "Henglang".
In the age of sailing, most of the ships that were wrecked at sea due to wind and waves were caused by the captain's poor skills, causing the ship to be overturned by horizontal waves. A few were caused by top waves but the hull could not withstand it.
When a ship faces rough wind and waves, it is very important to maintain basic power and adjust the course in time according to the wave conditions.
A pure wind sailboat only encounters strong winds and waves. Although the main sail needs to be lowered, the storm sail also needs to be raised. It is just a small triangular sail at the bow of the ship. It is used to maintain the basic power of the sailboat and allow the ship to sail as smoothly as possible. Usually A tailwind also means a tailwind, which makes it much safer.
If all the sails are lowered and the steam engine is turned off, it will be very, very dangerous for the ship to completely lose power. At best, it means drifting with the tide, and at worst, it means waiting to die.
However, the ships in the African Expedition Fleet of the Dachu Empire are quite large in terms of full load tonnage. The smallest ones are over a thousand tons, and they are all powered by sails. In terms of sail power, the steam engines of these ships are all main power. , the sail is the auxiliary power.
Among the newly built military ships of the Dachu Empire, even some large-tonnage civilian ships, although the ocean-going ships are basically all powered by sails, a very few are powered by pure steam engines.
Sail power basically no longer uses sails as the main power, but uses the steam engine as the main power.
Nowadays, the sails in newly built motor boats are generally used to save coal during daily sailing. Generally, the sail speed of motor boats is relatively slow, so if you want a faster speed, you often use a steam engine and a sail together.
Thanks to the strong industrial foundation and outstanding shipbuilding industry of the Dachu Empire, although the wind and waves in the Cape of Good Hope are relatively strong and the sea is rough, the African fleet expedition to Cape Town, South Africa is still sailing forward on the sea. With.
Although the waters of the Cape of Good Hope are very dangerous, it does not mean that you cannot pass it, let alone that you will encounter danger every time you pass it.
Most of the time, as long as you don't seek death, for example, you have to go to sea in extremely bad weather, or you have to ride the boat sideways against the waves because of your mental disorder.
Otherwise, as long as the ship itself does not have any faults, or if it is particularly unlucky and sails in normal weather, it can still encounter large killing waves... Well, this is a wave with a front end like a cliff and a gentle tail, especially The danger is that even modern large ships of tens of thousands of tons will be capsized if they encounter continuous large killing waves.
As long as you don't seek death and don't encounter extreme situations, many risks in the waters of the Cape of Good Hope can actually be avoided.
Europeans have been traveling back and forth in this sea area for more than a hundred years, and they have not been seen dead!
In terms of danger, and comparing the number of shipwrecks, it is not even as dangerous as one of the Yangtze River waterways in the Chu Empire: the Chuanjiang Waterway!
Although a lot of money has been invested in the management of the Sichuan River waterway in recent years, dozens of ships are still wrecked every year.
Before the large-scale use of steam engines for inland river vessels, it was normal for hundreds of small sailing boats to sink in a normal year... In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Sichuan River waterway had not been regulated much, and the situation was stable, so the demand for business travel in and out of Sichuan increased sharply. , it was even more fierce at that time.
In the worst year, that is, the eighth year of Chengshun, more than 300 wooden sailing ships sank in this waterway.
Since the founding of the Chu Empire, the total number of ships wrecked in this waterway is probably thousands, but the wrecks are all small wooden boats in the inland river, so not many people pay attention to them, and they cannot attract any public attention.
It was not until the high-pressure steam engines for ships matured and a large number of steam-powered inland river vessels replaced the small wooden boats of the past as the main force on the Sichuan River Channel that the accident rate on the Sichuan River Channel decreased.
Compared with the Sichuan River Channel, the waters of the Cape of Good Hope look dangerous and more frightening, but as long as you deal with it properly and don't seek death, you won't encounter too much danger.
After all, the commanders of the African Expeditionary Fleet are not fools. They did not choose to go on an expedition to Africa in June of the lunar calendar, when the waves are strongest in this area, and in the local winter season in the Cape of Good Hope.
Instead, we chose December when the waters of the Cape of Good Hope are calm. At this time, the waters of the Cape of Good Hope are in the local southern hemisphere summer season, which is the calmest time of the year in the local waters.
At the same time, they did not forcefully cross this sea area in bad weather. In fact, they arrived near this sea area yesterday. However, because the weather was not very good yesterday and the wind and waves were a bit strong, in order to avoid accidents, especially the fleet Ordinary civilian transport ships with only over a thousand tons were in danger, so they did not enter the sea area.
After the weather calmed down today and the wind and waves on the sea subsided, we entered this sea area.
It's just that the so-called wind and waves in the waters of the Cape of Good Hope are relatively small, and that is only relatively speaking. In fact, because this place is located at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, it is not very calm even under normal circumstances.
And they were a little unlucky. After entering it, they found that strong winds were blowing and the waves became bigger... At this time, the African Expedition Fleet obviously did not want to turn around and go back. They saw that they would be able to pass through this dangerous area in a few hours. The sea area, and although the wind and waves became stronger, they were still within the acceptable range, so the entire fleet continued to move forward in the wind and waves.
This is Chu's South African Expedition Fleet, which was replaced by a wooden ship with pure sails from the Dutch or Portuguese. If it encountered such a level of wind and waves, it might be possible to turn around and return.
Amid the continuous strong winds and waves, Chu's South African expedition fleet kept moving westward, cutting through the wind and waves. After sailing for more than four hours, they finally passed through the most dangerous sea area, bypassed the Cape of Good Hope and entered a slightly calmer sea. Atlantic.
Although the sea was still a bit rough at this time, it still made a large group of Chu people breathe a sigh of relief.
The danger is finally over!
Now that they have seen the Atlantic Ocean, which is still stormy, many crew members from the Chu State think that this sea area is quite good. Many people also think that this sea area should be renamed, such as Ping An Ocean...
This situation is similar to what Magellan felt after crossing Cape Horn and entering the calm Pacific Ocean.
However, the name cannot be changed casually. The term "Atlantic" is not a foreign word or a translated word.
During the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese called the Indian Ocean the West Ocean and the Pacific Ocean the East Ocean.
Later, it was discovered that there was a larger ocean to the west of the Indian Ocean. European barbarians called it the Atlas Ocean, so they divided the Western Ocean into two...the Indian Ocean was called the Little Western Ocean, and the Atlas Ocean. for the Atlantic Ocean.
Later, the Chu Empire's international trade increased and it had close contacts with Europeans. Therefore, some geographical names for overseas countries were inevitably influenced by Europeans who had been sailing for many years, and many geographical terms in European languages were introduced. , some are transliterated and some are free translated.
During this process, some of these translated words were widely used among the people, and even replaced some traditional words, becoming popular and even official standard words in Chu.
The two ocean terms Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean arise from this situation.
It was not just the indigenous people in Europe and other places that had a small impact on the culture of the Chu Empire. In fact, the Chu Empire had a greater cultural impact on various countries, even countries as far away as Europe.
Not to mention Nanyang, India and other places, let alone cultural influence, the cultural roots of some puppet countries have been almost wiped out by Chu culture... Many upper-class people in indigenous countries generally learn Chinese.
In fact, the Chu people did not force them or even take the initiative to promote these things. Instead, they insisted on learning Chinese, just like the Chinese in later generations who took the college entrance examination in English... It does not mean that people are willing to learn. The language of others is forced and must be learned.
Not to mention that all scientific research materials are basically in English. Even some modern historical materials about China are all in English. Without learning English, you will not be able to directly read the large amount of modern Chinese history written and preserved by the British. material.
It is common for translated materials to be inaccurate, unintentional omissions, misunderstandings, or even intentional misinterpretations.
In the study of modern history, foreign language materials also occupy a considerable proportion, and in some foreign-related events, foreign language materials are more important, and you also need to study these.
In historical research, it is necessary to compare multiple parties to draw more accurate and objective conclusions. It is not feasible to just listen to one person's opinion.
As for the upper-class people in the indigenous countries that had more contact with the Chu Empire, they were actually unwilling to take the initiative to learn Chinese, but they had no choice but to learn Chinese. If they didn’t learn how to communicate with the Chu people, how to learn and understand advanced cultural knowledge .
If you don’t understand Chinese and don’t have much knowledge, when you see a ship from the Chu Empire approaching, you don’t even know it’s a steam engine ship, and you just scream devil...
Especially some of the puppet states of the Great Chu Empire, their domestic infiltration by the Chu people was so severe that they were infiltrated and controlled in all aspects, from politics, economy, culture to military administration, etc.
Dealing with the Chu people is unavoidable for the middle and upper class people in the puppet country, and if you want to deal with the Chu people, you can't speak a native dialect.
Not to mention whether the Chu people can understand it, you are embarrassed to say it yourself and feel like a country bumpkin.
Therefore, learning Chinese has become a necessity.
Although the influence of culture is mutual, it is often the powerful countries that can have an impact on the culture of small countries.
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This is how the cultures of the Chu Empire and other indigenous countries interacted with each other. Although the Chu Empire has also been influenced by some foreign cultures in the past thirty years, other countries have been even more influenced by the culture of the Chu Empire. .
The changes in the names of the Pacific and Indian Ocean are very different from the changes in the indigenous upper classes in various countries who are actively learning Chinese.
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After passing through the dangerous waters of the Cape of Good Hope, the South African Expedition Fleet continued northward towards Cape Town.
Strictly speaking, Cape Town is not located at the southernmost tip of Africa. It is actually located northwest of the southernmost tip of Africa, on the northwest coast of the Cape of Good Hope.
The wind and waves here are calm, which is much compared to the dangerous waters at the southernmost tip of Africa, more than 200 kilometers away.
When the Dutch chose to build a colony here, they also took a fancy to the fact that it was close to the dangerous waters of the Cape of Good Hope and at the same time calm, making it a suitable base for ship repair and supply before passing through the dangerous waters and entering the Indian Ocean.
Therefore, after the South African Expeditionary Fleet entered the area, the crew felt a lot more relaxed. Even if there were enemies ahead, the enemies of the European colonists were far less scary than the dangerous sea areas and weather.
Besides, if such a huge fleet were to kill them, the Dutch would be doomed even if they had three heads and six arms.
The fleet went all the way north and finally arrived off the coast of Cape Town.
Before this, the Dutch in Kepler actually discovered the Chu fleet coming from afar in advance.
When they saw such a huge fleet...the hundreds of Dutch soldiers and a few ships stationed locally did not hesitate at all, let alone hold on.
I abandoned Cape Town early and ran away directly.
As for fighting against the Chu people?
There are just a few hundred soldiers, plus a few armed merchant ships, and the current Cape Town is not a large colonial stronghold. It has not even built a castle, let alone strong coastal defense forts, fortresses and the like.
How do you ask them to resist?
Previously, the Portuguese assembled more than 4,000 troops on Mozambique Island, as well as more than a dozen warships, as well as strict coastal defense batteries and city defense systems to defend them tenaciously. However, they were beaten by the Chu people. , came a total annihilation.
As a result, in the Mozambique War, the Portuguese almost lost their last large stronghold in the Indian Ocean, the last batch of main troops, the last batch of warships and armed merchant ships.
What a miserable old man.
What about the Dutch?
In fact, it was even worse than the Portuguese before. They lost the East Indies a long time ago, and a few years ago they lost all the territory on the Indian Peninsula. After losing the Dutch in these places, they basically lost the medium and large ones in the Indian Ocean Rim area. Colonial strongholds were established, leaving only a few sporadic small strongholds in Africa, but they were quickly lost.
Due to a series of heavy losses, the Dutch East India Company went bankrupt twice.
In what is now Cape Town, the reorganized Dutch East India Company originally tried to build a large colony here, focusing its colonial efforts on South Africa. In the past two or three years, immigration to the Cape Town area has increased.
But I didn’t expect that before Cape Town was built, the Chu people came to kill them again!
what to do?
What else can I do? Just run away.
You can't stay in Cape Town and die.
So, after gathering dozens of ships, transporting thousands of soldiers, and passing through the waters of the Cape of Good Hope, the South African expedition fleet came all the way and found that they had no enemies!
What they are facing now is: completely undefended, with only thousands of Dutch immigrant civilians left. In order to save their own lives, these civilians have hung up white flags in the port early, and sent representatives in advance, sitting The small sailing wooden boat came over and said that those people from the Dutch East India Company had escaped. There were only more than 3,000 civilians in the city. Today, Cape Town is an undefended city. They begged the Chu people not to open fire and not to harm the civilians in the city. The civilians in the city also collected some property for the labor of the army.
And in the future, they will live and farm here according to the rules of the Chu people, swear allegiance to the Emperor of Chu, pay taxes for the Chu people, and accept the emperor's conscription to join the army and fight and other obligations.
Well, since the Dutch are so sensible, the Chu people are not unreasonable. They explained on the spot that as long as the Dutch people in Cape Town do not make any hostile actions, the Chu people will not open fire and shell.
But letting them continue to live here...that's impossible.
The Dachu Empire is planning to use Cape Town as a large military base and sea pass, but it cannot allow a group of thousands of Dutch people to live in the city or surrounding areas...
Even if they said they were willing to swear an oath to the Emperor of Chu, it would not work, because Chu did not agree to their so-called loyalty at all.
If a native wants to become a Chu citizen, Chu will be happy and agree to it.
As immigrants from the loser side, these Dutch people in Cape Town still thought that as soon as they surrendered, they would become masters and become the Chu people they looked up to in the past.
How can there be such a good thing in the world... What a beautiful thought!
Therefore, after discussion, the senior leaders of the expedition fleet said that since you have all voluntarily surrendered, we Chu people will not harm you, but you cannot stay here.
As the saying goes, the world is so big, you can go wherever you like, but just don’t come to our Chu people’s territory anyway.
This puts the Dutch in trouble. They have nowhere to go. They don't even have a ship to leave South Africa...
