The two expedition ships, "Chopper" and "Breaking Wave", followed the currents from west to east and the southwest wind, turned off the main steam engine, and sailed eastward at a speed that was neither fast nor slow. The main reason for shutting down the steam engine is to reduce coal consumption and mechanical wear. Although the two ships together consume less than 100 tons of coal (80 kilograms of Tacheng coal per hour), and they also bring a lot of mechanical spare parts, they can save a little bit on a long-distance trip at sea. From time to time, they approached the coast to examine the topography and vegetation along the coast; Sometimes he moves away from the coast and accelerates to the windy and rough areas to the south.

On April 26, 1642, the east coast expedition fleet sailing along the south coast of Australia arrived at Bass Strait between mainland Australia and Tasmania, and after taking a little time to confirm their position, the two ships turned north under Li Yi's orders and sailed into a bay on the Australian mainland. The bay is enclosed by two headlands only two or three kilometers apart, creating a natural sheltered bay. The two ships cautiously sailed into the marked channel of the sailors, and then anchored in the bay.

"Johnson, bring fifty sailors ashore to be on guard, there may be natives in this place." Li Yi stood on the bridge and said while observing the situation on the shore with a telescope. This is Melbourne, the coast is full of plain grasslands and forests, and there are some small mountains in the distance. Deep in the bay, with great rivers, forests and rich plains on land, and so good on the land, it is truly a perfect gift from God for the people of the east coast.

"Yes, sir." Johnson saluted, then went to the deck to pick sailors. One of the selected sailors was given a rifle. Then they rowed ashore in a number of small boats. Fifty musketeers. It's enough to deal with some unsightly natives. For those Australian Aborigines who are still in the Stone Age and have a lower level of civilization than even those Bantu blacks. Neither Li Yi nor Sergeant Johnson cared too much, and sent fifty musketeers ashore just in case.

"Mo Dayong, take all your men who can still move, immediately bring the tools, and let me go ashore to the designated area to dig. Remember, dig to a depth of at least four meters, and if one doesn't work, immediately switch to another. Until you dig out the coal for me! Go for it! Li Yichao said to the tall Eight Banner warrior who was standing respectfully in front of him.

Mo Dayong whispered yes, and then quickly walked out. Although Chief Li's order was a bit clueless, for example, how did he know where there would be coal in Lu Dao? Could it be that his ancestors had come here to explore? However, he did not dare to disobey Shangfeng's orders, so he quickly gathered his men, took shovels, pickaxes, sacks and other tools, and set out in small boats towards the designated area on the shore. The area Li Yi assigned to them was in what would become Melbourne's Altona district, where there was very shallow coal – mostly lignite and a small amount of black coal. Similarly, there is one such coal field in the Anglesea area just outside the bay.

These two coalfields are not large coalfields with rich reserves, but it is still the same sentence. In the 17th century, such coalfields were no longer small. Especially for the people on the East Coast who have not thought about setting up a large industry here for a while, the lignite here is just to provide some fuel for passing ships, how much can it consume?

Although the calorific value of lignite is not high, it can provide a considerable range of life for these ships when combined with a small amount of locally produced black coal. In Li Yi's mind, the ideal is to mine the Hunter Valley Coal Belt in the interior of Newcastle on the east coast, where most of the high-quality black coal is buried in the open air. But at the moment, it seems that this can only be imagined. The local area does not provide a large number of technical personnel and materials, and relying on the hundreds of people under Li Yi's hands, it is difficult to mine the coal in those deep inland areas, even if it is mined. Therefore, after thinking about it, it is better to make do with this coal mine near Melbourne, which mainly produces lignite. Lignite is lignite, which is better than burning charcoal when there is no coal.

"Send a signal to the second lieutenant of the 'Breaking Waves' and ask him to bring a group of people ashore to set up tents and set up temporary camps." Li Yi put down the binoculars hanging on his chest and continued to order: "After the camp is built, go to the forest over there to cut down trees and build houses!" ”

Soon, a large number of transport boats were also laid down on the "Breaking Waves", which received the order, and then a group of sailors began to land with a large amount of supplies. At the same time, the bored Li Yi began to organize sailors to use the fishing nets on the boat to fish in the bay. Although they have been sailing at high latitudes and the temperature is not very high (more than 10 degrees), the cured and bacon in the barrels in the pantry still emit an indescribable smell. Therefore, fishing activities during the voyage have always been loved by sailors, especially the "Chopper" and "Breaking Waves", which are multi-functional expedition ships equipped with large trawls, often go down to the net to fish during the voyage, providing valuable protein supplements for everyone.

In the evening, Second Lieutenant Yasu, who had gone ashore to set up a temporary camp, took a transport boat to the "Chopper", which was quietly moored in the harbor. "We didn't see any natives coming to harass us all day." "The temporary camp has been set up, two barbed wire fences have been pulled, and Mo Dayong has stationed two hundred men there at night to guard the tools, food, and weapons that we have brought ashore. However, it seems that they have not yet found the location of the coal field, and they will continue to dig, and God knows how much time they will have to take. ”

"Hmm." Captain Li Yi nodded thoughtfully, and then said resolutely: "No matter how many days you look for, you have to find this coalfield, this is the easiest coal field we know to exploit in Australia." Could it be that we are going to the outback of the Hunter Valley, or the depths of the Tashima River in Tasmania to dig for coal? That's not realistic, it's still the most reliable here! We can wait here for a week, and if we don't find it in a week, then I have nothing to say, just pack up and go to the Hunter's Valley near Newcastle to find mines. ”

"What if you find a mine?" Second Lieutenant Ansu asked, "What are you going to do when you find the mine?" Also like in Albany... Well, is there a place for people to stay behind at Gushan Port? ”

"Of course, this is an important midway coal and water supply point, and of course some people should be left here." Li Yi said as a matter of course, "I plan to leave a hundred Eight Banner warriors here, establish a primary stronghold first, and then find a way to expand it later, what do you think?" ”

"As one of the easiest open-pit coal fields to mine, this is naturally a point." An Ju looked at Li Yi and asked with some incomprehension: "But don't you think there is some overlap between this place and Gushan Port?" Gushan Harbour is only about ten days away from here, and it won't even take ten days if the sails are used together, and I think there only needs to be one between the two points, and I prefer Melbourne because of the coal. ”

"You can't think like that. I set two points here, naturally, with my own considerations. Li Yi waved his hand and said: "From Melbourne along the east coast of Australia to the north through the island of New Guinea, to the sea near Jeju Island, the ocean currents and wind directions are changeable along the way, and the climate and hydrological conditions along the way are also extremely complicated. ”

An nodded his head, agreeing with Li Yi's judgment.

"This is the way out. Although the return trip can be faster, it will take more than 20 days to say the least. Li Yi continued to explain, "When our ship is full of people from the coast of Ming to the east of the Philippines and head south, the only way we can go is to continue to go south along the east coast of Australia and return to Melbourne in terms of the current international situation." The population from the Ming Kingdom will recuperate in Melbourne for some time, and then sail west to Gushan Harbor. This part of the voyage is more difficult, you don't see when we came only took 10 days, if the sails are used together, it will only take six or seven days, but the reverse is against the wind and water, we will probably have to walk about 20 days to reach Gushan Port from Melbourne. ”

"After arriving at Gushan Port, the migrants will continue to recuperate for a period of time, and after recuperation, they will sail north along the west coast of Australia, and then follow the counterclockwise circulation of the southern Indian Ocean all year round to reach Xinhuabao in the New China region." Li Yi said as he drew a route map on paper with a pencil, "This part of the voyage is also relatively difficult. It spends most of its time sailing near the equator, and its food and water are prone to spoilage. Moreover, we must not forget that this hot weather can easily lead to a rapid deterioration of the health status of migrants, and even an outbreak of infectious diseases. But now we can only go like this, this is already the best choice, after all, we can't touch this route on the north coast of Australia for the time being; And we can't continue to sail east from Melbourne to do a round-the-world trip, that would be too long, and the voyage will take nearly two months, which is pure death. ”

"Actually, there is another option, we can follow the Kuroshio to take the North Pacific route, then land on the west coast of North America to rest, and then go south along the west coast of the entire South American continent, around Cape Horn, to Baleen Harbor, and then return to the mainland. Of course, this route is too long and can only be used as an alternative route. Anji smiled and said, "Well, it seems that you are right. Albany and Melbourne are two strongholds. The last question is, why didn't you choose Perth as your western stronghold? ”

"Who let my ship walk by, and then find Albany first?" Li Yi said innocently. (To be continued......)