In the early morning of 5 September, the two-ship formation of the "East Coast Eagle" and the "Galician Exocet" approached the mouth of Duck Lake in the morning light. The sea was a bit rough and the breakwater and trestle bridge had not yet been built here, so the ships were a little bumpy, but this could not stop the determination of the people to land.

There was a drizzle in the sky, and a petrel fluttered its wings in the wind and rain, flying steadily in the direction of the wind. Bai Shui was the first to climb down the rope ladder on the port side of the Eagle of the East Coast, and on the yellow-green sea below the side of the ship, two flat-bottomed boats, numbered 331 and 332, were swaying with the waves.

After a terrifying climb, Bai Shui jumped onto the 331 boat, but the undulating waves staggered and he almost fell. Bai Shui hurriedly stabilized his figure, his face was a little pale, which was caused by mild seasickness. In fact, his situation is quite good, Leonid, the landlubber, worthy of his self-proclaimed title of "mainlander", is now lying in the hammock of the dim bilge of the "East Shore Falcon" because of severe seasickness, panting and moaning.

He was joined by some of the ship's sailors. After they got down to their boats, they began to row hard towards the mouth of the sea, and then began to measure the depth of the water and mark the course.

A few more people came down from the 331 ship, all of them soldiers of the army. They wrapped flintlock pistols and ammunition packets in oiled paper to protect them from drizzle, and then began to receive the cargo from the ship. Tents, parcels, food, drinking water, weapons, tools, and in addition to 15 horses and four hounds, were hoisted onto the punt by the sailors of the East Shore Falcon.

The entire loading operation lasted several hours, and after the personnel and cargo were filled, the white water untied the tied cables, and the 331 ship suddenly separated from the "East Coast Eagle". The 15 crew members of the 331 raised a soft sail, which immediately swelled under the strong southeasterly wind and drifted towards the shore with the direction of the wind and the current. At this time, the 15 crew members also struggled to row the pulp, controlled the direction, and carefully rowed towards the mouth of the sea.

The waves on the sea gradually increased, and the 331 ship moved helplessly in the waves, and the icy rain hit the cabin, the oilcloth raincoats, and the faces of the crew, blurring everyone's vision. The sea and the sky were gray, and only the occasional petrel cry reminded everyone to fight hard against the wind and waves.

Floating barrels on the surface of the sea are attached to the bottom of the sea with small iron anchors, which are the channels marked for large ships. The two large ships have a deep draft, so naturally they can't sail at will like small boats, otherwise they will be in trouble if they run aground or run aground. Naturally, the 331 boat ignored these floating barrels, and the flat-bottomed boats with a draft of less than 1 meter were naturally unimpeded in the offshore and inland lake areas.

Two hours later, with hard work, the 331 boat finally successfully crossed the seaway and took the lead in going deep into the interior of Duck Lake. The water is much calmer, with only a few slight undulations. As far as Bai Shui could see, in a confused rain and fog, he could only faintly see the lush forest in front of him and on both sides.

Bai Shui took out a fairly accurate hand-drawn map, and then took out a compass for comparison, basically confirming the approximate location he was in. It is a waterway between the Basilio Grande and the long strip of sand bars on the east side of the Duck Lake, which is about 2-3 kilometers wide, and the water depth is roughly measured and some of the channels are more than 5 meters, which is completely accessible to large ships.

The 332 boat rushed up from behind, and Xu Yu, wearing an oilcloth raincoat, stood on the bow of the boat and shouted to this side: "Baishui, prepare to land here." ”

"Understood!" Whitewater responded loudly, and then paddled with the crew towards the shore in front of the left. When the boat ran aground when it was about to reach the shore, all the crew disembarked en masse, jumped into the waist-deep water, shouted the trumpet and pushed the boat ashore in unison.

The shore is full of huge reed bushes, many of which are more than 20 meters high, which is amazing. The reeds were so dense that while the white water waited for the rest of the ships to dock, he and his companions cleared a clearing on the shore with machetes. The felled reeds are neatly laid out on the ground, and these tall and lightweight withered yellow reeds are excellent materials for simple houses. Many Indians in South America did just that, planting a few branches in the ground and covering them with reeds and leaves, and it became their house. Of course, the houses were so rudimentary and unsightly that the Portuguese colonists who came to Rio Grande do Sul ridiculed the Indians for being "not as good as rabbit holes".

Ships 332, 333, and 334 came ashore along with a naval transport boat. Xu Yu sat on the wet mud floor, took off the cowhide military boots on his feet, and poured the water inside clean before putting them on. "Don't be stunned, the first platoon of infantry began to guard with guns; the second row set up tents and searched for water; The cavalry platoon gathered the horses together, and did not let them graze at will; The rest of you, cut the reeds with me, fast, move quickly! ”

Excluding those who were seasick and unwell, the four flat-bottomed boats that had landed had a total of 49 expedition members, carrying 15 horses and 4 hunting dogs. Soon, everyone went their separate ways. According to the plan, after the first landing of the expedition team, a solid landing site was built on the shore as soon as possible. Next, the Navy will send men and supplies from the Galician Exocet, which is laden with construction supplies, to set up an official base ashore. After all, prospecting cannot be done overnight, and establishing a solid base at the mouth of Yazi Lake will be very convenient for carrying out various tasks in the future.

After a cursory survey of the terrain and the geological conditions of the lower coast, the sailors who came ashore in the transport boats rowed out to sea in five boats.

The rain is still falling. Near the shore of the lake, there are many large and small pools of water filled with water in the reeds with an area of about dozens of acres, which are all freshwater, and some even have fish and shrimp in them. Xu Yu looked at it and felt that he could divert all the water from these pools to one place and transform it into an artificial reservoir as a water source supplement for the stronghold that was about to be built. But these are all things that others will do in the future, and they have nothing to do with them. Their only task was to assist the navy in the construction of a rudimentary stronghold from which they would sail north along Duck Lake to the famous confluence of five rivers, near the later Port of Alegre.

Of course, this is all for later, and now everyone is still covering their heads and concentrating on cutting reeds and clearing open space. In the afternoon, the battleships "East Coast Eagle" and "Galician Exocet," which had been anchored in the open sea, cautiously sailed into Duck Lake along the course marked by floating barrels on the water, and anchored about 100 meters offshore. By this time, the expedition members on the shore had cleared a large area of land and set up military tents.

The decks of the two large ships became noisy at this time, and the sailors who came and went hoisted bags of supplies from the deck to the four flat-bottomed boats, and when they were filled with supplies, the flat-bottomed boats used their sails and oars to transport supplies and personnel to the shore one by one, and the whole scene seemed to be extremely hot.

After the boat entered Duck Lake, it was far away from the wind and waves on the open sea, and the hull was much more stable. Leonid Fedorovich also felt much better at this time, he was able to get up and walk slowly on the deck. As a member of the expedition, Leonid, who felt that he had recovered a little, also tried to go ashore after seeing that his teammates had already started work on the shore. He had developed a certain level of fear of the boat, and he couldn't wait to put his feet on the solid ground.

Leonid's body was still a little weak as the stream of people slowly climbed down the rope ladder, and he felt his hands grasping the rope grid so weak that he almost fell into the lake below several times. A gust of wind blew, and the "Eagle of the East Coast", which had only laid down its tail anchor, shook, and Leonid was caught off guard, and his weak hands suddenly couldn't grasp the grid. At this moment, a person next to him pulled hard, slightly stopping the downward trend of Leonid's body, taking this opportunity, Leonid quickly grabbed the rope ladder again and stopped his body.

Leonid turned his head to look at the other party, and was about to thank the other party for saving him from taking a cold shower, but he was suddenly stunned.

The man who helped him wore a naval barrel cap on his head, and a short sword marking the rank of second lieutenant shone brightly on his epaulette. He climbed the rope ladder with agility and skill, and by this time he was about two positions below Leonid, and he could see that he was an old sailor.

"Even though you make a bad impression on me, I'm going to... Feel... Thank you for your help, Second Lieutenant John Ston. Leonid shouted downward.

"Although you are an arrogant fellow, we are comrades-in-arms, and I am not the kind of person who will sit back and watch my comrades fall into trouble because of personal vendettas, but do not take this matter too seriously, Cavalry Ensign Leonid Fedorovich, you don't have to take this matter too seriously." The other party did not stop, still climbing down quickly, and then jumped lightly on the No. 331 flat-bottomed boat with a leap.

Four flat-bottomed boats laden with supplies and a number of transport boats full of Charlua laborers braved the drizzle to make their way to the shore. Just a few hundred meters away on the shore, more laborers are already working under the direction of the architect. Digging ditches and draining, leveling the land, excavating foundations, etc., this virgin land, which was still rarely visited before today, and full of wild atmosphere, finally ushered in the breath of civilization with the efforts of hundreds of laborers of the Republic of East China on the east coast of China.

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