Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 47 The Brave's Game

The news of the Navy's first battle victory did not inspire much excitement.Because this just reflects that the Spaniards are intensively preparing for war.The executive committee ordered the second wave of mobilization. The number of people mobilized this time was 160. Not only did the army's second and third posts fill up the establishment, but even the cavalry was expanded by one post. The remaining 61 people were assigned to the naval battery.

Lu Ming, the captain of the "Eagle of the East Coast", reported the situation of the trip to Wang Qinian in the Ministry of the Navy. "The port is built in a sheltered bay in the southeast of East Island (Soleida Island), and our people are already building infrastructure there. It is expected that the construction will be almost completed after this return flight."

"You'd better set off as soon as possible." Wang Qinian said, "The Spaniard's ship will come at any time, and it will be difficult to be stuck at home. The 'Eagle of the East Coast' is not like the Yunsheng No. You can't get out even if you break through, this time with enough personnel and supplies, after going out...before the end of the war...don't come back, take care of everything."

Lu Ming was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "What are you talking about so sadly? Isn't Yunsheng No. [-] going out together this time?"

"Yunsheng No. 20 is undergoing some modifications." Wang Qinian introduced, "The vest made me a large base on the deck of the ship, and I plan to build a mast here and add a few sails. At the same time, the bow is also Adding a soft sail pulled by a cable can add some power to the ship when the wind is down. It is said that it can save 30%-14% of fuel, and the maximum speed can reach 15-[-] knots when the wind is down. The modification has not been completed yet. I originally wanted to Let you wait for a while, we all set off together. But it’s a long night and dreamy, so let’s forget it. You can confirm with Shao Shude the supplies you need, and then bring enough people, and set off!”

Lu Ming saluted, turned and left.

On the pier, 47 soldiers from the Army's temporary second platoon have assembled secretly and are boarding the ship.John Ston, who had just been promoted to the first officer of the "Eagle on the East Coast", was instructing the sailors to make the final inspection. The cabin was full of various food, building materials and munitions.

The naval shipyard on the south side of the pier is starting to build two new warships. The Executive Committee has accumulated a large amount of oak planks, canvas, rigging, cables and other materials over the past few years. It is a waste to put them in the shipyard. Now there are With shipbuilding experience and sufficient manpower, they simply continued to build ships.It's just that these two ships are destined to have a hard time catching up with this war. In a year's time, this war will probably end long ago.

In the evening, after the students of Class 33 of the Visual Navigation School collectively turned off their lights for a rest, Lu Ming turned and walked into the pier. The "Eagle of the East Bank" cut through the waves and sailed south in the vast night.

……

The Strait of Magellan is probably the most feared strait in the world for navigators.The waterway is narrow, the flow speed is variable, the wind and waves are strong, and it is foggy. All the factors that are unfavorable to navigation can be found here, but this is the most important channel between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

On March 3, when the "Eagle of the East Coast" successfully moored in Sullivan's Shelter Bay, Lu Ming immediately summoned Julien, Captain John and other veteran sailors to discuss how to navigate the Strait of Magellan.Before departure, Lu Ming simply collected some modern hydrological data of the Strait of Magellan, and then shared these data with everyone.

After reading the information, everyone was silent. The Strait of Magellan was relatively cold in March, and some places in the eastern section began to fog up. Be extremely careful.Moreover, sometimes you will encounter ice floes, and if you are not careful, the ship will be destroyed.The western section is also very difficult to navigate, especially the narrow waters between Clarence Island and the Brunswick Peninsula, where the navigable width at the narrowest point is only 3 nautical mile.Moreover, the westerly wind prevails all year round, and the wind and waves in the waterway are also violent, so navigation is also difficult.

"I really don't know how the 'Galicia Flying Fish' sailed here, whether they were lucky or skilled." Lu Ming rubbed his forehead and moaned, "By the way, how is the situation in the Drake Passage? Yes. Sailing? Forget it, pretend I didn’t ask!” Lu Ming flipped through the information, and found that it described the Drake Passage as “every year the wind force exceeds magnitude 8, and because the sea area is wide and unobstructed, there are many strong winds and waves, and there are often Ice floes appear." This kind of description made Lu Ming shudder, and only a sick person would choose to bypass South America from here.

"Actually, to ambush Spanish ships, you don't necessarily have to be in the strait. We can patrol the entrance and exit of the strait on the east side of Tierra del Fuego, and go up and vote if we meet the right one." The newly appointed John S. First Officer Dun offered advice, "The Spaniards' inventory of military supplies in the La Plata area is simply not enough to support long-term operations. They will inevitably transport supplies from Peru to the front line continuously. From land along the Lima-Chilkas -The transportation of materials on the Tucumán-Asunción-Buenos Aires line is not only difficult due to the mountainous terrain, but the loss is huge, and the transportation volume is definitely not too large, so they must still give priority to transportation by sea. We It is even possible to send personnel to establish lookout points on some peaks with good sightlines on Tierra del Fuego, and to send out signals in various ways when encountering suitable targets, or fire, or wolf smoke. The main fleet usually cruises in the east of Tierra del Fuego. As soon as we received the signal, we immediately rushed to intercept the side sea area, and at our speed, those bloated Spanish transport ships would definitely not be able to escape.”

This is a more reliable suggestion.However, arranging people to go to Tierra del Fuego is also a troublesome thing. There are Indian tribes on Tierra del Fuego. It may be unsafe to go there if there are fewer people. At present, Lu Ming really can't mobilize too many people. It's really everywhere. It's all trouble!

"If it's really not possible, let's take some time to go to Tierra del Fuego in the next few days to conduct a field survey and see if we can establish a fixed lookout point." Lu Ming frowned and said.

Everyone looked at each other, and after a long time Julien d'Eblol asked: "How many people are you taking?"

"It's enough to bring 30 people in two sheds. It's boring if there are too many." Lu Ming waved his hands and said, "We're not going to fight. Bring more meat, spirits and other things that Indians don't have. It's best if you don't meet them. When we arrive, we will be polite first and then soldiers. We are short of manpower here, so we really can't provoke them."

There is no disagreement about this.

"By the way, didn't the Spaniards try to establish a stronghold or colony in the Strait of Magellan? I remember that the Spaniards seemed to prohibit ships from other countries from passing through this strait?" Julien asked suddenly.

"Uh... actually they tried." Lu Ming had talked a lot with Gao Mo about the Strait of Magellan before coming here, so he knew very well: "Just a few decades ago, they tried to establish settlements on the Brunswick Peninsula , to discover the British pirates raging here in time, but then they failed, most of the residents returned, and most of them died of starvation. Therefore, the Spaniards never really effectively controlled this strategic strait. "

After finishing speaking, Lu Ming stood up and said to everyone: "You guys have just disembarked from the boat, everyone should take a two-day vacation at the same place. Two days later, I will pick two sheds from the first row of the tentative arrangement to go to the fire place Isle, Julien, in your Galician Flying Fish. The Eagle of the East Coast has a leak on the port side and needs to be repaired."

"Yes, sir." Julien stood up and bowed.

……

Perhaps it was the good luck brought by the "Eagle of the East Coast". From the first day she was moored in the port until now, the sunny weather has lasted for two and a half days. For the small island under the rain and snow, it is really not easy.

Taking advantage of the fine weather, Lu Ming organized more than 300 people on the island, including Spanish captives, to carry out a surprise construction, and successfully built a batch of simple houses with a mixed structure of brick and wood. Finally, there was a storage place for the piled up materials on the ship.

On the third day, sleet came unexpectedly again.The bad weather caused some people to catch a cold, but fortunately, it was not a big problem. Everyone was a healthy person, and the food was nutritious. After a few days of rest, these people recovered one after another.Lu Ming selected a total of 30 soldiers from two sheds in the first platoon of the army's provisional formation, carrying a lot of food such as dried beef, ham, sausage and spirits, and boarded a ship captained by Lian d'Eblol. The 300-ton "Galicia Flying Fish" sailed westward for reconnaissance in Tierra del Fuego.As for the shore defense after Lu Ming left, according to the usual practice, Xie Hansan, the first platoon leader of the army's temporary formation, was in charge.

The "Galicia Flying Fish" is a small trading ship built by the Spanish, and it is currently being piloted by 15 former Dutch sailors who came with the "Eagle of the East Coast".These sailors were selected by Liu Yun, Director of the Prison Affairs Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from the group of Dutch sailors captured on the "Crow". Taoist.Before coming here, Lu Ming promised to give them the status of free citizens and pay them wages, and these Dutch people happily expressed their willingness to return to their old jobs.In addition to them, there are 15 sailing school students on board as usual.

After more than a week of arduous sailing, the "Galicia Flying Fish" crossed the rough South Atlantic on the evening of March 3 and arrived at the entrance of the Strait of Magellan on the northeast side of Tierra del Fuego.Due to the high wind and rough waves here, the ship could not safely dock at all, so it could only continue along the coastline, and finally found a bay that could barely dock and shelter from the wind more than 20 nautical miles south of the entrance of the strait.

After tossing and tossing in the sea with such harsh sea conditions for so long, when his feet finally set foot on solid land, Lu Ming, who had already been tortured by the wind and waves and turned pale, almost couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Sailing is really a game for the brave!" Lu Ming sighed sincerely.

(End of this chapter)