Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1135
The escort team sailed continuously for eight days. Except for Dr. Zhong who was severely seasick and bedridden, nothing happened along the way.

The "Spanish whore" has a small displacement, and the stability of the ship is relatively poor.The sea will be bumpy with a little wind and waves.Zhong Lishi hadn't been out at sea much since D-day, and he was very uncomfortable. Fortunately, Zhong Xiaoying didn't get seasick and took care of him all the way.Because Zhong Xiaoying also boarded the ship, Liu Zheng and Fang Jinghan felt embarrassed to share another room with Dr. Zhong. Although Xiaoying repeatedly stated that it was okay, they moved to the crew's steerage to sleep in the bunk.

By the morning of the ninth day, the fleet became extremely tense.Signal from the flagship: All ships are requested to put on alert.

The number of gunners stationed at the emplacements and sailors on watch increased. The "Spanish whore" was small in itself, and once the battle preparation cabin started, the commotion became even more disturbing.Soldiers and sailors coming and going, the humming of shells and gunpowder being carried, and the roaring of non-commissioned officers.

Liu Zheng had been "squeamish" in the cabin a long time ago. He heard that there might be a martial arts show to watch, and 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 a few days, and under the careful care of his adoptive daughter, he has adapted to sailing. He heard that there were police at sea. He didn't want to go up, but he thought that this small broken ship had no armor, and it was not an oak ship with a thickness of several inches. Shell, it is not necessarily safe under the deck. If I am underestimated by these two emperors, it will be inconvenient to carry out work in Taiwan in the future. Now I pretend to be nonchalant and follow up, but I have already worn it on my head. A special steel helmet for veterans.

The officers on duty did not stop them, and they boarded the deck smoothly.On the deck, the sailors are at their positions, the gun covers have been taken off, but the ammunition has not been loaded yet.From the deck the entire convoy of ships could be seen breaking 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 excite Dr. Zhong who saw the majestic appearance of the Senate's naval formation for the first time.Holding on to the bulwark, he greedily looked at everything on the sea.

What he didn't know was that these two-masted patrol boats were no longer the ones that set off from Lingao. Facing the sea east of Hong Kong a few days ago, the escort team sent by the Lingao Coast Guard had left the formation and returned. Now it is the First Fleet of the Navy. The patrol boat is escorting.

Liu Zheng and Fang Jinghan were no longer interested in these things, they took Dr. Zhong up to the rear poop, where the captain was observing with a telescope.

This ship is assigned to the long-distance exploration team, so Liu Zheng and the captain are very familiar with each other.The captain is Chen Song, an old man with a white beard.He is an old fire chief who has been sailing for many years. He has been to Southeast Asia more than a dozen times, and he has also been to Taiwan, Siam, Japan and other places. He has sailed for businessmen and done business without capital.I am very familiar with the situation at sea, and I have already retired to the countryside in Guangzhou.After the Australians bombarded Guangzhou, he saw that the sea heroes who turned to the Australians were all like dogs. Although his family had some savings, he still felt that his family was too poor, and several of his children and grandchildren were not successful, so he went back As Feng's wife, the whole family came to Gao to join the Australians. Not long after, he became the captain because of the familiar sea conditions. 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 this old man is over 61 years old, his body is still exceptionally healthy.As soon as he saw Liu Zheng and the others, he greeted with his thunderous voice: "How is my boat? It's comfortable to serve you."

"It's okay, just like you, a bit old..."

"It's good to be old and lose fire." The old man squinted his eyes and smiled. He was wearing a sloppy navy uniform and the rank of reserve lieutenant.The military uniform was worn neatly, but the top two buttons were undone, leaving the chest open.The homespun gown inside was exposed, but the standard navy shirt was not on.

"Why, is there any hostility?"

"No," Chen Song put down the binoculars, "We're going to Dagou soon, this is the most dangerous part of 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 Dayuan, Bengang and Kaohsiung. The fleet of the Senate has been shuttling in the past six months. If the enemy intends 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, and his flustered mood immediately calmed down—at this time, he felt that he was wearing a helmet very abruptly, and the helmet quickly became hot under the scorching sun.He quickly and quietly took it off.

In order to hide his embarrassment, he asked, "Did Zheng Zhilong and the Dutchman do anything?"

"I've been here several times in the past six months, and there were indeed a few boats approaching by chance. But they didn't do anything." Chen Song said nonchalantly, "They have to dare, let alone the Dutch, the boats are as small as Make a point. Zheng Zhilong's boats are broken and lost, and they won't fall apart immediately after being hit by a cannonball."

A few people were silent. Apparently neither Zheng Zhilong nor the Dutch were willing to show a hostile attitude. They used old boats and small boats for reconnaissance, obviously to avoid accidental shooting.

Dr. Zhong took this opportunity to ask about the effect of the current azimuth test at sea.

Due to the lag in the development of nautical clocks, the current formation at sea mainly adopts the pilot ship piloting mode. There is a ship equipped with an old time-space quartz watch as the pilot ship, and the flagship is also equipped with clocks as a backup.

For those more important ships, the captain will directly distribute a mechanical watch brought by the old time and space, but this is limited to a very small number of ships.

But this method is not reliable, the mechanical watch may stop, and the pilot ship may get lost and sink in the wind and waves.Therefore, for most ships under the command of the Senate, the "lunar distance method" was used to determine longitude.

Simply put, it is to 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 changes every moment, moving about one moon diameter per hour.He assumed that the behavior of the moon observed on the earth is the same, as long as the moon is observed in two places and the time when it moves to a certain position is recorded accurately, the longitude difference between the two places can be calculated.

But this "lunar distance method" requires accurate and complete star catalogs.In the old time and space, it took astronomers decades to observe and map out.However, this is not a problem for the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Senate standing on the shoulders of giants.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 "Navigation Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris" in 1632, which listed the relationship between the lunar distance and longitude for the whole year of 1632, and attached a special slide rule.Using slide rules and almanacs, seafarers could calculate longitude times in 20 minutes.As for the accuracy is also within the acceptable range.

However, Chen Song is quite critical of this method - because the monthly distance method requires considerable mathematical calculation ability, although Dr. Zhong has introduced a special slide rule and a number table, which greatly simplifies the difficulty of calculation, but for most people who are illiterate It is a bit difficult for the captain.Fortunately, most ships are currently traveling on traditional routes, and there is little need for accurate longitude calculations.Barely make do with it.Ships headed to Taiwan and Jeju Island are equipped with naval cadets to serve as chief navigators and to take on the task of calculating pilots.

Captain Chen was complaining. At this time, the signalman came to report, and 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 binoculars and looked in the direction pointed by the captain. Sure enough, there was a lonely Dafu boat 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 soon lowered the sails.The sailors on the patrol boat boarded the blessing boat and began to inspect the entire ship.

The sailors they put on are dressed like commoners of the Ming Dynasty, and they speak with an authentic southern Hokkien accent.The sergeant of the navy took a look at the captains who came out to greet them, and they all seemed to be from the Ming Dynasty.

After cross-examination, I found out that it was a lucky boat from Quanzhou to Dayuan, and the indigo and sugar from Fujian were transported on board, as well as more than 200 Fujian immigrants. Offered good reward conditions.

The inspection also proved that the boss of the ship did not lie.In addition to trade goods and immigrants, the ship also carried some daily groceries.Although there are also a few earthen cannons and gunpowder lead for self-defense, there is nothing unusual.So the patrol boat let them go after the visit.

The nodding and bowing boat boss watched the patrol sailboat skimming the waves, quickly catching up with the fleet that had gone away, with a gleam of light in his eyes.

The "Spanish prostitute" slowly entered the port of Kaohsiung under the tugboat's tug--the name of Dagou is too "vulgar", and the Government Council has ordered to change the place name to "Kaohsiung" according to the original time and space.

For this bridgehead in Taiwan, the Standing Committee of the Senate originally proposed the establishment of "Taiwan State" or "Taiwan Province" in Kaohsiung at a meeting, but the Government Affairs Council believes that the current control of Taiwan is limited to Kaohsiung.The whole of Tainan has not yet been unified.It is premature to directly establish "states" or "provinces".

In the end, it was decided to set up a "city" only in Kaohsiung.The "mayor" of this city is a veteran named Wei Bachi.

At this time, he was sitting under the eaves of the customs corridor on the pier, preparing to welcome the arrival of the elders.

(End of this chapter)