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Chapter 725 Expedition Team in the Great Barrier Reef

An expedition team consisting of four large ships departed from Hoi An Port, crossed Java Island, the Timor Sea, entered the Torres Strait, and then entered the Great Barrier Reef.

The land of Oceania was discovered by the Netherlands 30 years ago. In 1606, the Spaniard Torres was hit by a storm at the northern tip of Queensland and sailed across the Torres Strait to the Coral Sea.They are all traveling by sea.

With the general orientation and simple information provided by Chu Yun, the expedition team sent by the Kyushu Army easily entered the waters of the Great Barrier Reef, and knew that the coastline that appeared on the west side of the Great Barrier Reef was the east coast of Oceania.

The Great Barrier Reef stretches for 4000 miles, the southernmost end is 500 miles away from the coast, and the northern end is only 30 miles away from the coast.Between the Great Barrier Reef and the long coastline of Oceania, there is a 4000-mile-long very convenient sea route. As long as you sail south along the coastline, there is almost no danger of getting lost.However, when the tide is low, some coral reefs emerge from the water to form coral islands, which will bring the danger of running aground to some unknown fleets.

On the deck of the leading large sailing ship, the captain was looking at the chart Chu Yun provided them, comparing the position on the compass from time to time.

"Captain, look, it's amazing!" The crew exclaimed in surprise after entering the Great Barrier Reef.

"What a fuss, what happened?"

The captain put down the chart and went to the edge of the deck to look down. He saw the colorful and multi-shaped corals under the boat. wandering.

The captain couldn't help being taken aback: "My darling, this sea water is so colorful, how did it form?"

An old sailor also said: "I have been a sailor in Nanyang for decades, and I have never seen such a strange sea!"

"I really want to draw such a beautiful scene and show it to my companions when I return to the north. If I tell them out of thin air, they will never believe that there is such a beautiful place in this world!" said another sailor.

They don't know that there are thousands of coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef, and there are many more coral colonies on the seabed.

Looking at the magnificent sea area, the captain suddenly remembered what Chu Yun had ordered: "No, we have sailed into the Great Barrier Reef! Although the Great Barrier Reef is beautiful, we don't know the channel here, so we will inevitably touch the hidden reef. Especially When the tide is low, this place will be even more dangerous! The fleet should leave here immediately and get closer to the coastline!"

"Every crew member is in position, turn the bow to the west!" Hearing that the beautiful coral reef is in danger, the sailors hurriedly adjusted the direction of the ship, and gradually left the magnificent sea area.

"Fortunately, I didn't encounter a hidden reef." After leaving the coral reef, the captain couldn't help but be thankful that the information Chu Yun gave them contained records of the Great Barrier Reef. stranded.

In fact, the captain's judgment was quite correct.In the world where Chu Yun lived before, in 1770, the British ship "Strive" ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef and hit a big hole. The captain was once stranded here.

"We must be careful in the future. We only have 4 ships for this ten-thousand-mile expedition. Don't let anything happen!" The captain broke out in a cold sweat and told the crew.

"Yes!" The crew members said one after another.

Among them are sailors from Liaodong, Guangdong, and Southeast Asia. Most of them have rich sailing experience and know that the seemingly calm sea is actually very dangerous, and they may encounter danger at any time!

After the captain warned the crew, he returned to the cabin and recorded his experience in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef in his logbook.This is Chu Yun's special order. He must record his voyages in detail, so that he can declare that this sea area has been owned by China since ancient times.

The captain was also happy to do this, because he knew that this was very precious information, and writing this logbook with his own hands would allow him, the original little man, to go down in history!
Although he is not like Mr. Sanbao who can lead a huge fleet to the Western Seas seven times, but he is the first group of expedition members sent by China to explore Oceania.

After writing down what he saw and heard that day with a brush, he locked this precious logbook in the box.

"The goal this time is Melbourne, and there is still a voyage of 8000 miles. At the current speed, it will take at least half a month to arrive. It is really long." The captain sighed.

Although the voyage was a historic expedition, the voyage at sea was long and boring.

Cheng Hong, who was once an assassin sent by Hou Jin to assassinate Chu Yun, later became a handyman and a soldier of the Navy Department, and later became a small officer of the Navy Department. He once went to Hainan Island to find the rubber plantation that Chu Yun summoned there. .Now he was promoted again, and became a captain officer in the Admiralty, the leader of the expedition.

He himself can't remember how many years he has joined the Kyushu Army. Now he is more proficient in Chinese than his mother tongue, and he completely regards himself as a member of the Kyushu Army, faithfully fulfilling the orders ordered by the Ministry of the Navy.

This time the Admiralty conscripted four galleons for him to lead to Oceania to search for the Melbourne area at the southeastern tip of Oceania.The four galleons were armed with more than a dozen cannons. The enemies they dealt with were only the natives, and a dozen cannons were enough to defeat them.

The fleet sailed south along the east coast of Oceania for about 10 days before leaving the beautiful waters of the Great Barrier Reef.After that, they drove southward carefully for 4 days, but they still couldn't see the corner of the Oceania continent.

On the fifth day after leaving the Great Barrier Reef, the sailors observing the weather stood anxiously on the bow of the ship and looked into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. There was drizzle dripping on their heads, and the sky was also gray.

Cheng Hong came to the deck wearing a coir raincoat, and he was also very disturbed.

Sailing on the ocean, the most fear is the storm!
When it rains on the coast, it often means that there is a storm brewing not far away!
"Captain, should we dock and wait for the rain to stop before moving on?" The sailor asked Cheng Hong anxiously.

"No, there are no harbors on the coast near here. Even if we dock safely, our ships are likely to be destroyed by the storm. Without the ships, we will be stranded here! The storm should not come yet, and we will sail south , if there is no harbor ahead, we will run aground and land again." Cheng Hong said solemnly.

People can go ashore to shelter from the rain, but boats cannot go ashore.

The fleet continued to sail south for thirty miles when the storm clouds came at any time.

"Captain, it's a harbor, and a river flows into the sea from here!" A sailor shouted.

"Great!" The whole fleet was extremely excited, and the fleet could take shelter from the rain here.

It's just that they didn't know that the harbor they discovered was called Sydney Harbor in Chu Yun's time, and it was very close to Melbourne.

(End of this chapter)