"Thank you, but could you please tell me what's going on with those windmills? They are connected one after another and look like woods."
The captain looked doubtfully at the white light on the sea, and it took him a long time to understand that the count was pointing in the direction of Cavite.
"That's the Cavite Fortress, ah, no, you must be talking about the dock. The windmill was also built by the Japanese to pump water to the dock. Do you like this?"
"I like it," Weiss said. "When I was a boy, I was lucky enough to travel to the Canary Islands, which is the home of windmills. So this scene seems very friendly to me. What kind of Japanese you mentioned?"
Characters, I would like to meet them."
"You can't see him. Although he is a secular person, his style is similar to that of an ascetic or a hermit. Except for the governor and the archbishop, he will not see anyone, not even his charming fiancée who has gone through all kinds of hardships to come to Manila.
I'm afraid I won't even see him for a few times - what a pitiful beauty..." The captain's beard curled up ambiguously, "But the respected Commander Alfonso has frequent contacts with him, and you can ask him to serve as your assistant in the future.
introduce."
"Mr. Alfonso, this respectable man is absent from our game today."
"He has a battle to fight," the captain said with a sour taste. "The governor gave him four companies and a thousand natives to attack the Ilocos in Pangasinan. The Japanese also followed,
Responsible for taking care of the cannons and rockets he built."
Weiss was just about to follow Captain Pilar down the fort when suddenly, a distant and vague sound of gunfire seemed to be blown by the wind, followed by another sound.
"What's going on?" Pilar picked up the telescope. "Is the signal coming from Corregidor a lighthouse ship?"
The two people took turns watching with telescopes. The sunlight reflected on the sea was extremely bright. It was so painful that they could hardly open their eyes. They could only vaguely see a few white sails flickering on the horizon. After nearly an hour, Weiss saw the Cavite Fortress rising.
There was a puff of smoke and the sound of a cannon shot.
"Damn it! A ship has broken into the bay!" cried the captain, holding his hands on the crenellation, "ring the bell! Prepare for war!"
The sentry rang the alarm bell, and as the alarm bell rang, the drummer of the company began to beat the assembly drum hurriedly. The gunners swarmed out of the barracks and rushed to the artillery position. The infantry also put on their armor and began to line up. Weiss knew that it was no longer possible.
Suitable to stay here, he walked down the stairs. As soon as he walked out of the fortress, he saw a panic-stricken Basilio galloping towards him on horseback.
"I'm sending people everywhere to look for you," the port tax officer said breathlessly, taking off his hat and wiping his sweat regardless of his grace. "Here's the Virgin Mary. Look at the good things your sailors have done. Your yacht will be alarmed.
The Governor's."
"Don Mr. Basilio, you don't need me to teach you how to speak to a lord!" Weiss replied arrogantly, "What earth-shattering event happened?"
Half an hour later, Weiss was sitting in a sampan rowing out into the bay. The tax collector sat slumped next to the helmsman, talking ramblingly about how a clipper had entered despite the warning of the Corregidor sentry ship.
Manila Bay, cruising in the harbor at "alarming speed". None of the patrol paddle boats and warships in the harbor could catch up with the ship. Finally, the sailors on the ship agreed to let an unarmed small boat approach. Only then did the port officials
It is known that this clipper belongs to the earl.
The small sampan plowed through the waves amidst the chants of the oarsmen, and the two-masted yacht that was causing chaos in Manila Bay gradually appeared in front of us. The elegant and slender black hull, with beautiful Victorian paint.
As the sampan rowed closer and closer, Weiss looked up and saw a familiar weapon pointed at them in the mast high up - a typewriter.
On the bulwarks and poop, sailors with rifles took up positions, controlling the surrounding waters and intimidating the native canoes not to approach.
The sailors lowered the gangway, and Weiss climbed up from the sampan. When he stepped on the last step, a hand pulled him up to the deck.
"Weleback!" Xue Ziliang said.
The Esmeralda, or the Esmedala as it was renamed to confuse the Spanish, was originally a private speedboat built by the Hong Kong shipyard for the wealthy Portuguese businessman Landela in Macau. The always shrewd industrial porter never let go of anything.
In order to seize the opportunity of export customers, Mr. Landela's order was changed from the Hong Kong Shipyard to the Bobu Shipyard as an excellent test product. Some people even proposed to turn this yacht into a catamaran or trimaran. The last of these was too scary.
The proposal was still rejected. The final ship type was basically derived from the 200-ton two-masted patrol boat, using a mature iron-framed wooden shell structure. The displacement was slightly reduced, the aspect ratio was increased, and a bilge was installed to enhance stability.
The keel. However, when the hull was basically completed and workers were nailing copper sheets to the bottom of the ship, unfortunate news came: Mr. Landela went bankrupt. One of his merchant ships ran aground and sank outside Makassar Port, and the other was fully loaded.
Ships made of precious sandalwood produced in Timor became trophies of the Dutch.
Naturally, Mr. Landella, who was bankrupt, was unable to pay off the remaining 40% of the balance. The speedboat, which was more than 90% completed, became the property of the Planning Institute.
The Navy fought a lot of lawsuits with the Committee of Agriculture, the Special Reconnaissance Team and the Remote Exploration Team, and finally got the ship as they wished, for use in sailing training. The condition is that they must obey the call at all times and carry out the orders of dignitaries and officials issued by the Executive Committee.
The task of transporting important supplies. The Hong Kong shipyard carried out many modifications, large and small, in accordance with the requirements of the Navy. In order to familiarize the naval cadets with different sails, the original design of the ketch eventually evolved into what Qian Shuiting called "b
"Gantine", with a horizontal sail on the foremast and a longitudinal sail on the mainmast. After many twists and turns, the sail training ship "Haiqi" evolved from the yacht and was incorporated into the navy at the Hong Kong base. As for the future, it changed its appearance and transformed into a sailboat.
No one would have thought at the time that Count Nova's private yacht, the Esmedala, would play a role in an operation jointly led by intelligence agencies.
"Don't drive the boat into the smelly ditch of the Pasig River." Weiss said.
The Esmedala lowered its sails and anchored near the beach of Tondo, carefully keeping a distance from the cannons firing fiery shells from Fort Santiago. Tonto was the largest and most densely populated slum in the Philippines in another time and space. Now it is
It is just an inconspicuous small village on the north bank of the Pasig River. Although it is sparsely populated, the beautiful yachts are still quite eye-catching. More than a dozen canoes loaded with cargo gradually surround them. The dark natives wave their arms and make various incomprehensible comments.
They knew the language and shouted to sell pineapples, bananas, mangoes and taro to the crew. The sailors on the yacht were unmoved and just pointed the black muzzles at those who tried to get close. Taking advantage of the opportunity to sell goods, they boarded the deck and robbed the ship.
This is a common tactic used by pirates, and both Chinese and European merchant ships traveling here have suffered losses.
The captain of the patrol ship stepped on the wooden rail at the top of the small sampan. His body leaned forward so much that it seemed that he would fall into the water if he staggered. However, he always maintained this posture and stood there steadily, staring at the growing number of people.
The Esmedala is getting closer.
From the perspective of an old Basque sailor who has drifted halfway around the world, the barracuda-like slender sailing yacht is simply a rare beauty. Not only is the proportion perfect, but every detail of the boat is made very delicate and well-proportioned.
After the trireme patrol ship drove away the indigenous canoes, it put away its oars and faced the yacht, stopping two chains away. Before getting off the sampan, the captain ordered the cannons on the forecastle platform to be equipped for combat.
The swivel guns must be loaded with ammunition and fired at any time. However, his order failed. Except for the oarsmen below the deck, all the sailors and soldiers on and off duty rushed to the forecastle and stern, and even climbed up the fallen
Looking at the mast of the sail, this strange sailing ship with tall mast and narrow body has never been seen before.
"A mob," Xue Ziliang raised his chin at the crowded forecastle fort on the galley. A Tagalog sailor straddled the sharp iron on the bow corner of the ship, waving the matchlock pole used to light the cannons in vain.
, but the cannon that he was responsible for firing was several meters behind him, and there were people standing in front of the muzzle. "As long as the typewriter is turned around and a few long shots are fired, this poor broken ship will turn into a floating coffin, then
You idiots won’t even have time to fart.”
The sampan boarded the yacht and made several slight muffled sounds. The captain of the patrol ship grabbed the rope ladder on the side and jumped onto the deck in a few steps, completely ignoring the two fat-headed port staff who came in the same boat.
The captain swayed hard on the rope ladder until he was pulled aboard by the sailors on the yacht. The captain was puzzled. The line shape of this yacht was unique, slender, smooth and very smooth. There was no towering ship building, no eye-catching bow image, and no
There are no common intricate carvings extending from both sides to the stern. Only neatly coiled cables and some machinery of unknown purpose can be seen, as well as a teak deck with human figures visible on it.
Taking two steps forward, he immediately understood the reason why the deck was illuminated. A group of barefoot sailors, obviously Chinese, were scrubbing the deck following the dragging water hose; then they sprinkled sand and lay on their backs.
The deck was being polished with stones. The Chinese in front of them were completely different from the sluggish compatriots on the Junk ships. They wore neat blue uniforms, with collars turned flat on the shoulders and back like the Dutch, and wrapped with white
The short stubble of his hair peeks out from under the round-brimmed straw hat with a hatband. He is full of energy but rarely speaks, and moves neatly to the bosun's whistle.
This situation made the captain couldn't help but think back to his days as a trainee seaman, but he didn't pay attention to the position of the drain beside the bulwark. The seawater sprayed from the water hose spread across the deck and rushed to his boots.
, he hurriedly jumped aside to avoid the dirty water, but unexpectedly bumped into someone. (To be continued...)