In New World, Weipa Bay is a haven for wildlife with endless rainforests along the coast and crocodiles and seabirds near the coastline.

Many off-duty crew members were looking around on deck with binoculars, focusing on whether there were any signs of human activity.

According to the hydrological data of the Old World, the average depth of water in the bay is 40 meters, and it is theoretically possible to sail and berth 10,000-ton ships, but without dock facilities, the place near the coast can only barely be approached by the 1,000-ton Pride, and the 10,000-ton ship like the Nicole cannot approach the coast at all.

Captain Gu decided that the Nicole would anchor in the middle of the bay and send the Pride to carry out coastal exploration missions.

At this time, a group of relaxed-looking crew members gathered on the foredeck of the Nicole, pointing at the distant coastline and talking and laughing loudly.

"Is this the site of the port of Weipa? It's so primitive, there's nothing wrong with it, right? ”

Someone on the deck asked, looking at the shore with a telescope.

"It should be right, you and I sailed all the way here, and the longitude and latitude measured by ourselves will not be wrong."

Someone in the crowd responded.

"Who would have thought that in the old world, less than three hundred years later, this would be the world's most important bauxite exporter!"

"Yes, however, we are here, and the bauxite development of this place will be greatly advanced, because because of our arrival, the trajectory of history has changed......"

Unlike the relaxed atmosphere on the deck of the Nicole, the deck of the Pride was busy and tense at this time.

The sailors who were able to board the Pride were all selected, and not only did they have a wealth of landing experience, but they also knew that the landing operation in front of them was not something to be taken lightly, especially when they saw the large crocodiles that often infested the coast.

The task of the first landing exploration was simple---- to determine the closest point of the Pride to the shoreline, and then send a dinghy ashore for initial observations.

The Pride lowered its sails, raised its fire and started the Stirling engines, and slowly moved forward, cautiously approaching the mangrove-strewn beach in the distance, at the tip of a peninsula.

At this time, the crew on the deck is distributed on the fore and aft decks, and they are constantly measuring the depth of the water with a plumb weight, and reporting the data at any time.

Eventually, about fifty meters from the beach, the Pride came to a halt and dropped anchor.

At this time, although the Pride is not fully loaded, the draft is more than one meter and almost two meters, if you don't want to run aground, this is the closest point to the coastline of the Pride.

With Captain Li Sanduo's order to unmole and release the boat, two of the six lifeboats on board were slowly lowered to the surface of the sea.

Zhu Beiguo and Hu Xiaolin each took five people to take the two lifeboats and paddled towards a section of bare beach without mangroves.

A few minutes later, the dinghy landed, and everyone successfully stepped on land, according to the standard procedure of the landing expedition, the twelve people each carefully advanced about a hundred meters in all directions, according to the military regulations that Gu Jin copied from a certain information book, this distance is the maximum effective killing range of throwing guns and ordinary bows and arrows.

After everyone made sure that there was no danger at the moment, they returned to the landing point on the beach.

Several people took out three cloth bags, went to three locations and filled each pocket with a small half bag of sand, and then marked a zero-zero-one number on the cloth bag with a pen, and put it back in the lifeboat to take it back.

This is Cao Limei's requirement for this ocean-going expedition landing---- every time she lands, she must collect beach specimens, and repeatedly told her that if she encounters representative rocks, she must also collect specimens and bring them back.

Miss Cao told everyone that the entire Australian beach and the nearby beach coast are rich in mineral resources, and because it is close to the sea, it is much more convenient to transport and mine than the inland.

Therefore, the beach is a natural resource that we must rely on for a long time in the future, and collecting sand samples from the beach is very important for us to grasp the mineral resources in the vicinity.

About an hour later, the twelve people who landed quickly withdrew to the Pride.

This is Gu Jin's regulation, for the sake of safety, Gu Jin requires all landing personnel not to stay on land for too long, let alone overnight.

At this moment, Gu Jin was standing on the bow of the Nicole, staring at the landing team members from the binoculars, until he saw that all the landing personnel had returned to the Pride intact, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Jin's caution is justified, the natives in northern Australia belong to a more fierce race, according to historical records, their fierceness is comparable to that of the cannibals in the primeval jungle of Papua Island.

Of course, Gu Jin knew that the group of people he led had powerful firearms, and they would definitely be able to win if they really fought, but no one could guarantee that there would be no casualties, and his own people were in the light, and the natives were in the dark, so if they suffered losses, it would be more than worth the loss......

"It's time for a meeting! It's time for a meeting! Meet at the restaurant! ”

As soon as Zhu Beiguo and the others returned to the deck, Li Sanduo stuck his head out of a wheelhouse and shouted at everyone......

The content of the meeting was to discuss the landing plan for tomorrow.

Li Sanduo spread a large-scale map of the Old World, Australia, Queensland, on the large round table in the seafarers' restaurant.

At this time, except for the watchman and deck guard on duty, everyone on the ship sat around the table, many people craned their necks to read the map, and many people stared at the distant coastline through the portholes.

Weipa is an Old World place name, the scene outside the porthole is the same as indicated on the map, there are two east-west rivers running almost side by side to the west into the sea, the estuary is very wide, it is estimated that the north estuary is five kilometers wide, and the south estuary is also about two kilometers wide, the estuaries of these two rivers are close to each other, and between the two estuaries is a river beach alluvial fan plain, which is wide at the front and wide at the back, and goes deep inland.

Well, it looks like we're right, and here it is, the estuary of the two rivers is an important landmark in Wepa, and everyone here has learned to measure latitude with a sextant, and roughly estimate their current longitude using the sunshade method and clock.

There were maps of the Old World, and they knew the latitude and longitude of Weipa, but the cautious ones carefully compared the map with the terrain outside the window to make sure that they were not in the wrong place.

Just as everyone was concentrating on studying the map, suddenly a loud drum noise swept over the mast of the Pride, and the crew looked out of the porthole curiously.

A huge number of birds are constantly changing formations in the air, beautiful and majestic, as if they are sending some kind of signal to the earth.

Everyone was stunned by the sight, and many people shouted excitedly to the birds, and in the past two years, people have seen many pristine environments, but even so, everyone has never seen such a large flock of birds flying in the sky.

So many people took out binoculars to follow the birds, and when the birds finally returned to the forest, people pointed their cameras at the distant jungle.

In the telescope, people can see that the vegetation of the entire estuary and alluvial fan area is very dense, and under the blazing sun, the river and trees near the river bank are painted with a layer of bright color, while the distant inland is foggy, and the endless woods and rolling hills are endless, covering the earth with a layer of dark green.

If it weren't for the sound of the sea breeze blowing through the treetops and the flocks of seabirds, the scene would be a static oil painting.

"Attention, everyone, this is Weipa, our landing site."

Li Sanduo pointed at the map with a wooden stick, making a clicking sound, causing some people to put down their binoculars and turn their attention back to the map.

The map is marked with a red circle, and the exact location is deep in the alluvial fan plain outside the porthole.

"The old world-famous super-large laterite bauxite deposits are buried just under a thin layer of surface, and this is where the plenary asked us to explore in detail."

On the map, there is a large red circle and a few small green dots, which are the places that Cao Limei marked on the map.

As the only geology professional in the group, her pencil for marking locations has always been the baton for the exploration team's operational objectives.