It was the ships of the Second Fleet that sailed into the new Huaxia Bay! However, their condition did not look very good, the bow mast of the "Chaoyong" walking in front did not know where the road had gone, the foremast was also broken, and the sail surface was more or less damaged; And the appearance of the "Common Market" in the back looks okay - if you ignore the captain's quarters on the second and third floors of her stern and the doors and windows of the bridge that have been repeatedly damaged by shells. It looked as if they were in a fight.

"After a fight, it became this virtue!" Facing the people who came to check the situation, Wang Tiezhu said with a wry smile: "Don't worry, it's not a big deal, and there are no casualties, it's just that this matter is a little aggrieved, grandma!" ”

The two ships of the Second Fleet were quickly pulled into the dock of the ship repair yard and began to undergo some refurbishment and maintenance. In the city, Wang Tiehammer had already talked to Shi Qinjie and others about the tortuous experience of going north to find a route.

"In the beginning of June (1640) we had a respite in Basra, their military port, with the permission of the Ottomans." After Wang Tiehammer lit his pipe, he said slowly: "After resting and replenishing, we sailed out of the Persian Gulf and were spotted by a Portuguese ship near Muscat, but we quickly escaped their sight in the night. We then sailed along the coasts of Persia and India, drawing maps and collecting hydrographic information along the route. On June 25, Han's boat and I took refuge in a river to escape the storm. According to my analysis and that of Lao Han, that river was probably the Indus River. After the storm had passed, our two ships hoisted the Portuguese flag and headed south in the direction of the west coast of India; We wanted to avoid encountering the Portuguese ships. Sailing all the way away from the coastline of India. However, on the way, they encountered a Portuguese patrol fleet. We ignored them and turned our course away from their sight, but I reckon the Portuguese must have noticed it. In the East Indies, whether English, Portuguese, or Dutch, ships of such magnitude as the 'Common Market' were rare, and I suppose they guessed our origins, but for various reasons they turned a blind eye to us and let us go. ”

"July 15th. We encountered a Dutch fleet in the waters off Fort Galle, southwest of the island of Ceylon. Grandma bear, we forgot to put away the Portuguese flag, and the Dutchmen, about seven or eight ships, rushed up when they saw us. Wang took a deep breath of his cigarette, the spicy smell of the smoke soothed his emotions a little, and he continued: "It is not good for us to lower the Portuguese flag and raise our naval flag at this time, but I reckon that even if we do, the Dutch will be able to do the same." His grandmother's, that cannon fire was so fierce! These red-haired men had the upper hand and came over directly, wanting to eat our two ships in one bite. Lao Han's 'Chaoyong' ran fast, and I let him go first. My ship fought and retreated, and finally broke through all the way to the east. It was only in the evening that the Dutch ships were thrown off. Damn, if it weren't for the fact that we don't have a boat, I would have beaten up these Dutchmen, it's so arrogant! ”

"Why did the Dutch appear in the waters near Galle? Wasn't Galle Fort a stronghold of the Portuguese? Speaking of this, Shi Qinjie couldn't help but ask: "I know that the Portuguese and the Dutch have been fighting each other on Ceylon before, could it be that Galle Fort has been occupied by the Dutch?" Well, haven't they already signed a ten-year peace agreement? Could it be that news from Europe has not yet reached this side? ”

"Galleburg is probably already in the hands of the Dutch!" Han Dezhi had just returned from the ship repair station, and immediately replied after hearing Shi Qinjie's question: "Those Dutch ships are coming from the direction of Galleburg, and they seem to be patrolling the sea. As for the peace agreement signed between the Dutch and the Portuguese, I can tell you unequivocally that it was confined to Europe, and that the overseas colonies of both sides were still at war. Brazil, for example, the island of Ceylon, has been made into a pot of porridge at present. The Portuguese had to deal with the Kingdom of Jaffna established by the Tamils in the north and the Dutch from across the sea, which was in a rather difficult situation. ”

"So that's the case, are the Dutch so arrogant in all seas now......" Shi Qinjie nodded silently, and then said to Wang Hammer: "Old Wang, go on, what will you do after you get rid of the pursuit of those Dutch?" ”

"I didn't give up at that time, and I wanted to break further east, so I went with Lao Han in the general direction of Malacca with the ocean current and the southwest wind. However, when we got away from the Dutch, we had gone in a different direction, and the weather had not been very good in those days, so we could not determine our position, so we could only sail along the current according to our estimation. Wang Tiezhu took another sip of the teacup, then looked at Han Dezhi who was standing at the door and smiled bitterly, and said: "Now that I think about it, it was also luck at that time, if we didn't get lost, but followed the normal route, I don't know how many Dutch fleets we would encounter on the way, then we would probably be finished!" Lao Han is probably okay and runs fast, but my 'common market' number is difficult to say. The Dutch can still deal with three or four ships, and if there are more, it will be a little unbearable, and if there are seven or eight ships, I will have to flee. ”

Hearing this, Shi Qinjie and the others all frowned. In the past, I only knew that the Dutch were powerful, the Dutch had many ships, and the Dutch were all over the world to do business and rob colonies, but I didn't expect that the Dutch fleet in the Far East was so large, even if they were all armed merchant ships, the number was enough to give the people on the east coast a headache, after all, there were many ants to kill elephants. Of course, the East Indies are the lifeblood of the Dutch, and the density of ships here is conceivable.

However, the naval strength of the Dutch is indeed beyond doubt. Shi Qinjie vaguely remembered that in this era, excluding those ships that were not suitable for long-distance voyages, the Dutch still had a huge scale of more than 6,000 ships in the world, and the name of the coachman of the sea was really not called for nothing! If any country wants to compete with the Netherlands at sea at this time, it really must think twice. Britain, a country with a seafaring tradition, still spent twenty years, several helpers, and three wars against the Dutch, and the Netherlands was exhausted. Note that the British did not completely defeat the Dutch, but dragged them down, which shows the strength of the Dutch in the first place.

"On July 31 we saw a piece of coast, but we didn't know where it was." Han Dezhi followed Wang Tiehammer's words and said: "Lao Wang told me that this is the Andaman Sea, and I estimate that it is too. Later, we walked back and forth around this coastline several times, drew a lot of maps, and compared them, and finally determined that this should be near Mawlamyine in later Myanmar. We rested here for two days to replace the broken canvas and leaky planks, and also went ashore to trade some fresh meat with an indigenous village. In early August, we left Mawlamyine and sailed south. We didn't try to cross the Strait of Malacca again, it didn't matter, and the Dutch or Portuguese over there wouldn't allow us to set foot in that area. So we didn't touch the mold, but followed the current back to New China. However, when we passed near Aceh, we were still confronted by a group of Dutch ships, and they bullied us and fought fiercely, and the last group of armed merchant ships found that they could not bite us, so they withdrew again. And we are like arrows, too lazy to entangle with them, so we also flash. Well, the damage on the ship was mainly caused by this battle. ”

"The Dutch were very close to their own territory, and with the exception of a few English, French, or Danish ships with which they had exchanged their interests, they would be met with hostility as soon as they appeared." Wang Tiezhu said depressedly, "This time, Lao Han and I are not strong enough, and we have no confidence to argue with them. However, if we want to fly directly to Daming, the Netherlands is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed, and this matter must be solved as soon as possible. In my opinion, let's just concentrate a few capital ships and just break through there once! ”

Everyone shook their heads and laughed. Wang Tiezhu himself laughed, and then shook his head: "Forget it, even if you bet on all your belongings and succeed, we will have no problem when the Dutch block the door." It's not easy to do! I'll have to talk to the Dutch and see if there's a way to solve it, but I think it's extremely unlikely. Damn, now that the Dutch have a monopoly on the Far East route, why hasn't anyone jumped out to question the Dutch's behavior of eating alone? As long as someone starts, we will definitely respond secondly. ”

"If you really can't do it, you can only smuggle in, but not from the Strait of Malacca, so the success rate is too low." Zhang Xiao, the captain of the "Breaking Waves", who was sitting inside, suddenly said, "We can follow the current to the east, and then turn south when we get close to the Dutch territory, follow the Australian coastline, bypass the island of New Guinea and go north, and directly from the ocean east of the Philippines to the Daming coast." ”

"Then when you get to the coast of Australia, whether it's the ocean currents or the wind direction, it may be very unfavorable, how to go?" After frowning and thinking for a while, Wang Tiezhu said, "There is no way. Although I haven't walked to the island of New Guinea, I know that the wind and currents are changeable, and it is difficult to walk unless you ......."

"Unless it's a steamship, can you sail in that kind of complicated environment?" Zhang Xiao snapped his fingers and said with a smile: "It's not a problem now." (To be continued......)