Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 331 The Great Voyage ([-])

Following the ocean current from west to east and the southwest wind, the two expedition ships "Chopper" and "Breaking Wave" turned off the steam main engine, and sailed eastward at a moderate speed.The main reason for turning off the steam main engine is to reduce coal consumption and mechanical wear and tear.Although the combined consumption of the two ships currently consumes less than 80 tons of coal ([-] kilograms of Tacheng coal per hour), and they also bring a lot of mechanical spare parts, it is possible to save a little for long-distance sea travel.Sometimes they get close to the coast to inspect the terrain and vegetation along the coast; sometimes they stay away from the coast and speed up their sailing to the south with strong wind and waves.

On April 1642, 4, the east coast expedition fleet sailing along the south coast of Australia arrived at the Bass Strait between the Australian mainland and Tasmania. After spending a little time confirming their positions, the two Under Li Yi's order, the ship turned north and sailed into a bay on the Australian mainland.This bay is enclosed by two promontories only two or three kilometers apart, forming a natural sheltered bay.The two ships sailed carefully within the channel marked by the sailors, and then anchored in the bay.

"Johnson, bring fifty sailors ashore to guard. There may be aboriginals in this place." Standing on the bridge, Li Yi said while observing the situation on the shore with binoculars.This is Melbourne. The coast is full of grasslands and forests, and there are some low-level mountains in the distance.Here, deep within the bay, there are large rivers, forests and fertile plains on the land. The geographical location is so good, it is really an excellent land bestowed by the gods on the east coast.

"Yes, sir." Johnson saluted, and then went to the deck to select sailors.The selected sailors were distributed with a rifle, and then rowed ashore in several small boats.Fifty musketeers are enough to deal with some blind natives.For those Australian aborigines who are still in the Stone Age and have a lower level of civilization than those Bantu blacks, neither Li Yi nor Staff Sergeant Johnson paid much attention to them. They sent fifty musketeers ashore only to prevent Just in case.

"Mo Dayong, take all your men who can still move, and immediately bring tools, and go ashore to the designated area to dig. Remember, the depth of excavation should not be less than four meters, and if one place fails, immediately change to another , until the coal is dug out for me! Go!" Li Yi said to the tall Eight Banners warrior standing respectfully in front of him.

Mo Dayong answered yes in a low voice, and then walked out quickly.Although Chief Li's order was a bit random, for example, how did he know where there would be coal?Had his ancestors ever explored here?However, he did not dare to disobey Shangfeng's order, so he quickly summoned his men, brought shovels, picks, sacks and other tools, and took small boats to the designated area on the shore in batches.The area Li Yi designated for them is located in the Altona district of Melbourne in later generations, where there are extremely shallow coals-most of them are lignite, and a small part of them are black coal.Likewise, there is one such coalfield at Anglesea, just outside the bay.

Neither of these two coalfields are large coalfields with rich reserves, but again, in the 17th century, such coalfields were not small, especially for people on the east coast who hadn’t thought about starting a large-scale industry here for a while. The lignite here is just to provide some fuel for passing ships, how much can it consume?

Although the combustion calorific value of lignite is not high, if it is combined with a small amount of locally produced black coal, it can also provide considerable endurance for these ships.In Li Yi's mind, the ideal is to mine the Hunter Valley coal mine belt inland of Newcastle on the east coast, where most of the high-quality black coal is buried in the open pit.But that's just a matter of thinking at the moment.The local area does not provide a large number of technical personnel and materials. Relying on the hundreds of people under Li Yi alone, it is impossible to mine the coal in the deep inland areas, even if it is mined, it is difficult to transport it abroad.Therefore, after much deliberation, let's make do with this lignite-based coal mine near Melbourne.Lignite is lignite, which is better than burning charcoal when there is no coal to use.

"Send a signal to Second Lieutenant An Chu of the 'Breaking Waves' to take a group of people ashore to set up tents and set up a temporary camp." Li Yi put down the binoculars hanging on his chest, and continued to order: "Go to the camp after the camp is built. Cut wood and build houses in the nearby forest!"

Soon, a large number of traffic boats were put down on the "Breaking Waves" which received the order, and then a group of sailors started to land with a large amount of supplies.At the same time, Li Yi, who was bored, began to organize sailors to use the fishing nets on the boat to fish in the bay.Although I have been sailing in high latitudes and the temperature is not very high (more than 10 degrees), the cured meat and bacon in the wooden barrels in the food storage room still emit an indescribable smell.Therefore, fishing activities during the voyage have always been loved by sailors, especially the multi-functional expedition ships equipped with large trawl nets such as the "Chopper" and "Breaking Waves", which often cast nets to catch fish during the voyage. Fish, provide a valuable protein supplement for everyone.

In the evening, Second Lieutenant An Chu, who had finished setting up a temporary camp ashore, took a traffic boat to the "Chopper", which was quietly moored in the harbor. "I didn't find any natives coming to harass us all day." Second Lieutenant An Chu said relaxedly, "The temporary camp has been set up, and two barbed wire fences have been pulled up. At night, Mo Dayong and [-] people are stationed there to guard those we brought ashore. tools, food and weapons. But it looks like they haven't found where the coalfield is yet, and they have to continue digging, God knows how long it will take them."

"Hmm." Captain Li Yi nodded thoughtfully, and then said resolutely: "No matter how many days you search, you have to find this coalfield. This is the easiest coalfield we know to mine in Australia. Is it possible that we are going to the inland areas of the Hunter Valley, or the depths of the Tamar River in Tasmania to dig coal? That is unrealistic, but here is the most reliable! We can still wait here for a week, a week If I can't find it within a week, then I have nothing to say, just pack up and go to the Hunter Valley near Newcastle to find mines."

"What if the mine is found?" Second Lieutenant An Chu asked, "How do you plan to arrange it after you find the mine? It's still like in Albany... well, do you arrange people to stay and set up a site at Lonely Mountain Port?"

"Of course, this is an important point for adding coal and water on the way. Of course, we need to keep some people here." Li Yi said as a matter of course, "I plan to keep a hundred Eight Banners warriors here, and build a primary stronghold first. How do you think about expanding it in the future?"

"As an open-pit coal field that is the easiest to mine, it is natural to set up a point." An Chu looked at Li Yi, and asked with some incomprehension: "But don't you think there is some overlap with Gushan Port? Gushan It’s only about ten days’ voyage from the port, and if the sails are used together, it won’t even take ten days. I think there only needs to be one between these two points. I’m inclined to Melbourne because there is coal here.”

"You can't think like this. I set two points here, naturally I have my own considerations." Li Yi waved his hand and said: "From Melbourne along the east coast of Australia to the north, through New Guinea Island, to the waters near Jeju Island, one The ocean currents and wind directions are changeable along the way, and the climate and hydrological conditions along the way are also extremely complicated. If everything goes well, I estimate that it will take about a month to sail to get there.”

An Chu nodded, expressing his agreement with Li Yi's judgment.

"This is the outbound journey. Although the return journey can be faster, it will take more than 20 days at least." Li Yi continued to explain, "When our ship is full of people and goes south from the coast of the Ming Dynasty to the east of the Philippines, we will According to the current international situation, the only thing we can do is to continue down the east coast of Australia and return to Melbourne. The population from Mingguo Lane will recuperate in Melbourne for a while, and then take a boat westward to Gushan Port. The voyage is quite difficult. Don’t look at it, it only took 10 days when we came here. If the sails are used together, it will only take six or seven days. But if we go the other way, it will be against the wind and the current. We may have to travel for more than [-] days to get from Melbourne. Arrived at Gushan Port."

"Immigrants will continue to recuperate for a period of time after arriving at Gushan Port. After recuperation, they will take a boat to go north along the west coast of Australia, and then follow the year-round counterclockwise circulation of the southern Indian Ocean to reach Xinhua Fort in the Xinhua region." Li Yi said while using a pencil Draw a route map on the paper, "This section of the voyage is also relatively difficult. Most of the time it sails near the equator, food and drinking water are easy to spoil. Moreover, we must not forget that this hot weather is easy to make The health status of the immigrants is rapidly deteriorating, and even outbreaks of infectious diseases. But now we can only go this way, which is already the best choice. After all, we can’t touch the route on the north coast of Australia for the time being; and we can’t continue from Melbourne to Let’s go on a round-the-world trip on the East China Sea, the distance would be too long, and the voyage might take nearly two months, it’s just a matter of death.”

"In fact, there is another option. We can take the North Pacific route along the Kuroshio Current, then land on the west coast of North America to rest, and finally go south along the entire west coast of the South American continent, bypass Cape Horn, arrive at Baleen Whale Harbor, and then return to the mainland. Of course, this route is too long, so it can only be used as an alternative route." An Chu said with a smile, "Well, it seems that you are right. Albany and Melbourne are two strongholds. The last one The question is, why didn’t you choose Perth as your western stronghold?”

"Who let my boat pass by, and then found Albany first?" Li Yi said innocently.

(End of this chapter)