The convoy sailed for eight consecutive days. Except for Dr. Zhong who became severely seasick and bedridden, nothing happened along the way.
The displacement of the "Spanish Prostitute" is small, and the stability of the ship is relatively poor. It will be bumpy in the sea with a little wind and waves. Zhong Lishi has not been out on the sea much since the D day, and he is very uncomfortable. Fortunately, Zhong Xiaoying does not get seasick and takes 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 was okay, they moved to the crew's steerage cabin to sleep in sling bunks.
On the morning of the ninth day, the fleet began to become particularly nervous. A signal came from the flagship: all ships were required to be on alert.
The number of gunners and sailors guarding the gun positions increased. The "Spanish Whore" itself was small, and once the battle preparations began, the cabin became even more turbulent. Soldiers and sailors were coming and going, and the humming of people carrying shells and gunpowder
Chissing, the sergeants roared in a pretentious manner.
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.
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 was a police officer 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 officers 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. From the deck, the entire convoy's ships could be seen sailing through the waves.
The brisk two-masted patrol boat quickly shuttled through the fleet in the wind.
Although the size of the convoy was not large, it was enough to make Dr. Zhong excited when he saw the majesty of the Senate's naval formation at sea for the first time. He held his hands on the bulwarks 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.
of patrol boats escorting.
Liu Zheng and Fang Jinghan were no longer interested in this. They took Dr. Zhong to the stern building, where the captain was observing with a telescope.
This ship is assigned to the long-range exploration team, so Liu Zheng is very familiar with the captain. The captain is called Chen Song, an old man with a white beard. He is an old fire captain who has been running ships for many years and has been to Southeast Asia more than a dozen times. He has also been to Taiwan and Siam.
Luo, Japan and other places. He has driven ships for merchants and done business without capital. He is very familiar with the sea situation. He had already retired in the countryside of Guangzhou. After the Australians bombarded Guangzhou, he saw the heroes of the sea who joined the Australians one after another.
They all behaved like dogs. Although their family had some savings, they still felt that their family resources were too thin and their children and grandchildren were not successful, so they became Feng's wife again and the whole family came to Gao to join the Australians. Not long after, due to the sea conditions,
He became a captain, but because he was too old to serve in the queue, the navy put him in the reserve and became the captain of the "Spanish Whore".
Although the old man was over sixty-one years old, his body was still very strong. As soon as he saw Liu Zheng and others, he greeted in his thunderous voice: "How is my boat? Is it comfortable to serve you?
.”
"It's okay, but just like you, a little old..."
"You're old and well." The old man squinted his eyes and smiled. He was wearing a sloppy navy uniform with the rank of reserve navy lieutenant. The military uniform was dressed neatly, except for the top two buttons.
He loosened his clothes and opened his chest, revealing the homespun jacket underneath. He was not wearing a standard navy shirt.
"What, is there an enemy situation?"
"No," Chen Song put down the telescope, "We will soon reach Dog Fighting. 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 to go 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, 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 took it off quietly.
.
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
Take a look at 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 fleet at sea 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.
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 lost in the wind and waves and sink. Therefore, for most ships under the command of the Senate, the "lunar distance method" is used to determine longitude.
To put it simply, you use a sextant to observe the distance between the moon and the sun to determine the longitude of the ship.
In 1514, German astronomer Johann Werner discovered through observations that the relative position of the moon in the sky was changing every moment, moving approximately one moon diameter per hour. He assumed that what was observed on the earth
The behavior of the moon is the same. As long as you observe the moon in two places and accurately record the time 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 draw it. However, for the Science and Technology Department of the Senate, which stands on the shoulders of giants,
This is not a problem. 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.
.So the Ministry of Science and Technology published the "Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris" in 1632, which listed the relationship between lunar distances and longitudes for the entire year of 1632, and also attached a special slide rule. Sailors can use the slide rule and almanac to
The time to calculate longitude is within 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, it is still difficult for most people who are illiterate.
It is really difficult for captains. Fortunately, most ships currently take traditional routes, and there is not much need for accurate longitude measurement. They can make do with it. Ships heading to Taiwan and Jeju Island are equipped with naval cadets.
Serve as the navigator and take on the task of calculating and piloting.
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 lowered its sails. The sailors on the patrol boat boarded the ship and began to inspect the entire ship.
The sailors were all dressed like Ming people, and they spoke with an authentic Minnan accent. The navy sergeant looked at the shipowners who came out to greet them, and they all seemed to be from the Ming Dynasty.
After interrogation, I learned that this was a lucky ship heading from Quanzhou to Danyuan. 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 transported to the country.
The ship owner offered good reward conditions.
The inspection also proved that the boss of the ship was not lying. In addition to trade goods and immigrants, the ship also carried some daily groceries. Although there were a few cannons and gunpowder lead used for self-defense, there was nothing unusual. Therefore, the patrol boat
After the inspection, they were allowed to leave.
The boss of the boat 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 the Kaohsiung port under the tugboat - the name of the dog-fighting 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 the bridgehead of Taiwan, the Standing Committee of the Senate originally recommended the establishment of a "Taiwan State" or "Taiwan Province" in Kaohsiung during the meeting. However, the Government Council believes that the current control of Taiwan is limited to Kaohsiung. The entire Tainan has not yet been unified. A "state" should be directly established.
” or “province” is too early.
In the end, it was decided to only establish a "city" in Kaohsiung. The "mayor" of this city was 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 elders.