Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 214 The African route (continued)

On September 1638, 9, the resupply and rested exploration fleet sailed away from the wharf of Fort in the River and sailed into the vast South Atlantic Ocean.What they are going here is the dream of the East Coast Republic of China to open up African routes, which is related to the country's basic national policy for the next ten years, no matter how high it is, it is not an exaggeration.

On September 9, the exploration fleet sailed past the outside of Table Bay in the north of Cape Town, and it was even less than 2 meters away from the Fort of Good Hope on the shore when it was closest.In the past few days, the life of the British living in Cape Town has become more and more difficult.

The first is the unexpected bad weather. The global climate during the Little Ice Age was extremely cold, so that Cape Town, where the latitude is not high, had heavy snow like goose feathers.The cold weather forced the thinly dressed British to huddle in leaky huts or awnings, surviving on a little food every day.Even after running out of firewood reserves, the British were unable to effectively organize their hands to cut firewood in the snow. Many immigrants who were about to freeze were clamoring for the demolition of some wooden buildings for firewood and firewood. keep warm.

The core figures in Cape Town, such as Knight Heywood, Nick, and Second Lieutenant Porter, were powerless to stop the immigrants from doing this kind of bad behavior. The people have a way to live.

The barbarians who had been raging outside the wall for several days finally disappeared, but this did not make Heywood Knight and the others feel a little bit relaxed.Because a group of fugitives outside the city wore thick fur coats and started shouting hoarsely with iron horns.The content is nothing more than that they fled to the people on the east coast, and now they have enough food, warm clothes, and do not have to do more than ten hours of heavy physical work a day. The purpose is to vigorously confuse the remaining British immigrants to flee.

It has to be said that their agitation was extremely effective.On August 8th, more than 30 British immigrants from Cape Town fled outside the city at night, and were quickly picked up by the cavalry left there by the East Coasters.The British soldiers guarding the city wall watched these fugitives silently, but they didn't intend to stop them in the slightest. Some of them even said some blessings such as good luck to them.

In the next two days, the fleeing trend in Fort Good Hope intensified, and more than 100 people escaped.Lieutenant Porter asked Knight Heywood several times to order stern measures to stop this disturbing fleeing trend, but Knight Heywood never responded directly to him. Perhaps he thought that more people fleeing would help reduce good hopes. The rations at the fort were depleted, much to the disappointment of Lieutenant Porter, a stoic English officer.

As of the daytime of September 9, the number of British immigrants in Cape Town who died in battle, died of injuries, died of exhaustion, and fled has exceeded 2, and the number of sick and injured has exceeded 450.Under the double blow of savages and bad weather, nearly half of the original [-] British immigrants lost, and the future of Cape Town has been cast a heavy shadow.

"Without firing a single shot, without spending a penny, and without losing any precious manpower, Mo Ming, Liu Ang and others caused such a heavy loss to the british guys who got under their noses that they arrived at It's almost impossible to get along, so I have to say that their team's combat effectiveness is still very strong." Guo Zili retracted the telescope that was looking at the land, and then said to his adjutant with a smile.

Lieutenant Ji Wen, who has been promoted to trainee first officer, said with admiration: "Only those who know how to make full use of their own advantages and the enemy's weaknesses are commendable. The wisdom of the two officers is much stronger than the elm heads of the army. If If this bad weather continues, the British's sudden colonization operation may fail. However, Commander, look at the thick clouds in the sky and the strong westerly wind. I feel that such bad weather Although it is not good for the British, it is also very bad for our navigation."

Guo Zili brushed off the thin layer of snow on his woolen military uniform, then handed the binoculars to the adjutant to put away, and said: "Pay attention to control the course, the weather is not very good now. The sea is very windy, and it is still snowing , everything should be careful, if it hits a rock or runs aground, it will be troublesome."

"Of order, sir, I will pay attention." Ji Wen replied respectfully.He is still under 20 years old after graduating from the first class of nautical school, but he participated in the early battles against the Spaniards, the first and second Caribbean privateering wars, the Bordeaux escort naval battle in 1636, and the Guinea task force naval assault battle. He is an out-and-out veteran officer in the Navy.Starting from the sail and rope hand, he stepped up step by step, and gradually rose to the dazzling rank of Navy Second Lieutenant through years of diligent efforts. In fact, he paid a lot of sweat.Of course, hard work pays off, and now he is finally qualified to be called "Mr. Ji Wen".

In the evening, the entire fleet bypassed the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern tip of the African continent, and entered the waters east of the Cape of Good Hope.Under the strong westerly wind, the fleet was heading southeast at a high speed of 6-7 knots.At this time, the officers and sailors on the battleship "Free Trade", the high-speed cruiser "Yangwu" and the frigate "Red Trout" were all very careful.

The sea area east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of Cape Agulhas is known as the Dead Sea.In this sea area, a warm Mozambique current flowing southward from the Indian Ocean turns westward (the Agulhas warm current), and meets a cold current (Benguela cold current) drifting from the westerly wind to the west coast of the African continent, coupled with the strong westerly wind here , forming a stormy sea area that made the navigators talk about it.

The hot and cold ocean currents meet here, and the transfer of energy forms a changeable climate here. Maybe one moment is calm and the sea is calm, and the next moment is a huge wave.Moreover, this sea area tends to be more violent in winter, and the waves often reach 20-30 meters high.Walking in this sea area is absolutely impossible without a little courage and technology. Of course, you need a little luck in many cases.

Ji Wen looked at the streamers on the mast, damn it, the wind direction has changed again!Feeling the increasingly violent southwest wind, Ji Wen suddenly became excited, walked quickly to the boatswain, and shouted loudly: "Lower the sail! Quickly! Lower the top sail and the upper sail! The wind is too strong now, and the ship will Out of control!"

"Yes, sir!" The boatswain saluted, and soon organized the sailors to lower the sails.

When Ji Wen watched the sailors chanting and working hard to steer the sails, he couldn't help but think of a designer from the Ship Design Institute who suggested adding some small steam engines to the battleship "Free Trade" to reduce the number of sailors. It was just that Guo Zili really didn't believe in these "explosive boilers" at the time and vetoed them.If there are so many steam engines to assist at this time, the process of sailing should become very easy.

The waves on the sea became obviously bigger.Guo Zili was standing by the window of the captain's cabin, with both hands firmly grasping the handle next to the window.The turbulence of the ship was very violent, and Guo Zili's face was also a little livid. This was not because of fear, but because of dizziness.Rao has been sailing at sea for several years, but he has never seen such a huge wind and waves. The ship will fly up and down for a while, giving people a very strong sense of overweight and weightlessness, and this kind of change happened in a very short period of time. It is extremely uncomfortable to finish it within.

The three ships were drifting with the wind and waves like a few small fallen leaves. Many officers and sailors on board were pale, and some interns from the navigation school even vomited directly.They were immature and couldn't imagine such violent waves. A few of them even closed their eyes and prayed for the blessings of the Bodhisattva and Taoist Sanqing.

The bearded boatswain from the Netherlands leaned over, kicked their butts one by one, and yelled at this group of weak people like trembling quails. A man who is determined to conquer the sea cannot allow such weakness!

While these novices at sea were suffering in every possible way, the old sailors on the ship were not feeling very well either.The Taishang Laojun testified that the height of the waves in this sea area can definitely compete with the Drake Passage they have peeped from afar. Although it does not look as dangerous as the Drake Passage, it is definitely not as dangerous. Feel at ease.

Huge waves hit the deck from time to time, and the bosun roared loudly, directing the sailors to struggle to drain water in the cabin below the bumpy deck.The drain holes on the ship had all been opened, and the sailors tried their best to maintain their balance, and operated the manpower pumps to expel the seawater that had entered the cabin.From time to time, sailors were hit by the sudden turbulence of the ship and their heads were bleeding. At this time, the doctors and nurses approached quickly to bandage the injured.

The sails on the ship were almost lowered, and it was already night on the sea at this time, and it was pitch black everywhere, only the loud noise of the strong wind and waves could be heard.Due to the bad weather, the navigator couldn't even rely on the stars for positioning. He could only try his best to maintain the course according to his memory and experience.The lights of the "Red Trout" sailing at the forefront and the "Yangwu" sailing at the rear were somewhat faint in the turbulent waves, but this was extremely gratifying to the navigator: thank God, they are still alive!

I don't know how long the voyage has been. In the middle of the night, the waves on the sea gradually became smaller.By dawn, the waves had dropped to a height of about seven or eight meters, which made the entire fleet breathe a sigh of relief.But what made people scratch their heads at this time was that the wind direction on the sea suddenly changed into a southeasterly wind.That said, the fleet is currently headwinded.There was no other way, and the entire fleet began to sail against the wind in a zigzag shape.

In a short voyage of [-] nautical miles, the East Coast Exploration Fleet had to "float" and "sail" on the sea for three full days and nights before crossing the dangerous waters of Cape Agulhas and sailing into the relatively warm Indian Ocean!

(End of this chapter)