On April 5, 1642, it was sunny and the southwest wind was force four, and it was already the 17th day since the voyage from the port of Tacheng.

On the deck of the "Chopping Wave", a Taoist priest accompanying the ship was standing there, chanting something in his mouth. At his voice, the four sailors slowly threw a well-tied sack into the sea. This is the ninth Eight Banners samurai to die since departure, these children who grew up on the savannah of South Africa may not be able to adapt to the long and bumpy sea voyage, many of them have been languishing since the voyage, and a few who can't survive have died directly. Fortunately, the sailors and the Eight Banners samurai officers kept a close eye on their health, and threw their bodies into the sea as soon as they found someone dead, so there was no outbreak of infectious diseases on the ship.

After the ceremony, Li Yi put on his military hat, then walked into the bridge on the third floor, and began to order: "Now I order, the ship turns due north, sails at full speed, and if it finds a land outline, report it as soon as possible." After the order was given, the officers quickly took their positions and passed the message to the "Breaking Wave" behind them via a signal flag.

The two expedition ships, with their sail beams adjusted, sailed at full speed at 6 knots in a direction due north, and in the early morning of 8 April, the lookout of the "Chopper" first discovered a continuous stretch of land. The whole crew who heard the news immediately cheered, and they had been adrift at sea for 20 days, although this was really not a big problem for the sailors on the east coast who often couldn't get ashore for more than a month, but who let this time be exploring an unfamiliar route, and it was such a desolate and remote route, everyone's mental pressure was quite great from the beginning.

Many officers wondered if the hand-drawn map they had in their hands was accurate. Does the fabled continent "Australia" exist or not? And whether this route can be taken in the end. Now all these doubts have been dissolved. There is no doubt that a large area of land has been discovered, and it does not look like it is an island, as it seems to stretch far away to the end of the sea level.

The two ships had not been ashore for a long time, and after sailing in the windy and rough southern Indian Ocean for so long, not only the Eight Banners warriors were a little dizzy and eager to get off the ship and go ashore to rest and recuperate, but even many sailors were eager to put their feet on solid land. And that's not all. They also wanted to be replenished with fresh water, which they didn't want to drink anymore from the tank, which was filled with suspicious green suspensions.

"Chopper" lowered all sails and switched to full steam-powered sailing. She led the way, followed by the Breaking Waves, and the two ships began to turn due west, sailing slowly against the wind and currents. Li Yi stood on the top of the stern deck and observed with a telescope, and found that this was a flat prairie area, which could be seen to be relatively arid, and he rarely saw trees after sailing for more than half an hour.

In this way, the two ships sailed west along the coast at a low speed of 2-2.5 knots. It was not until the evening when it was getting dark in the afternoon that large areas of dense primeval forest began to appear on the land on the shore. Li Yi flipped through the information at hand. I feel like I'm probably close to the southeast corner of mainland Australia. This is a Mediterranean climate, unlike most parts of Australia, where precipitation is quite abundant, so it nurtures a large area of primeval forest along the shore. Considering that it was going to be dark, the two ships did not dare to sail in the dark in such unfamiliar coastal waters, and it would not be a joke if they ran aground or ran aground. Therefore, both ships turned off the main engine, lowered the bow and tail anchors, and moored to the sea for the night.

At six o'clock in the morning of April 9, the sailors, who had just finished breakfast, put away their anchors at the officer's loud order, started the steam engine, and continued to sail forward. The navigators and trainee planners on both ships were already standing in the bridge, holding binoculars to carefully observe the terrain on the shore, and began to draw maps and compare them with the maps they already had at hand to determine where they were now.

After passing through a group of islands, several intern staff officers finally determined their location after comparing the maps at hand - they agreed that the fleet was now near Cape Grand in the Great Australian Bay, and Li Yi agreed with them after listening to their analysis. Now that he has determined his location, then things are much easier, Li Yi spread out a large-scale accurate map with a high level of secrecy in his hand, and after carefully searching for it, he directly pointed his finger to a certain place on the map and said, "Here it is!" Continue forward for 150 nautical miles, where we drop anchor and go ashore. ”

"Yes, sir!" Sergeant Johnson glanced at the map. The map was drawn in pencil and looked so precise that every fold of the coastline was depicted. The latitude and longitude are also marked in many places, and some of the larger rivers have also been depicted, which are said to be the charts handed down by the ancestors of the nobles in the country.

I don't know how much effort their ancestors had spent and how many hardships and dangers they had gone through to fully explore this coast, and Sergeant Johnson was a little in awe. But this was obviously not the time to lament these things, Johnson put away his emotions and strode out of the bridge, he was going to deliver orders to the sailors.

At noon on April 12, the two expedition ships finally arrived at the location that Li Yi had finalized on the chart. It's a great haven, with a slanted peninsula that blocks out the rushing waves, creating a natural sheltered bay. Many dinghys were lowered on both ships at the same time, and Sergeant Johnson and the sailors rowed into the bay to begin measuring the depth of the water and marking the course.

After most of the day's work, it was not until it was almost dark that Sergeant Johnson finally returned to the big ship with his sailors. Soon, two expedition ships sailed into this natural harbor one after the other along the marked channel, and then anchored at a near-shore location. Thankfully, instead of hard rock, the seabed here has a sticky silt, which allows the iron anchor to be firmly anchored to the bottom of the sea.

At dawn the next day, several dinghys were lowered on the two ships, and the sailors rowed the dinghys to carry a large number of Eight Banner warriors ashore. Armed with spears and bows, these warriors of the Eight Banners carefully searched the surrounding area, but found no trace of human activity. After confirming that this was a deserted land, Li Yi also went ashore in a dinghy.

He kicked the ground with the cowhide boots on his feet, and then grinned. This is the Albany Harbour in Western Australia, a natural harbor. The small bay in front of you should be the so-called Royal Princess Bay, and the bay to the east of Royal Princess Bay should be the later King George Fjord, which should also be the earliest area where Europeans were active in Western Australia in the later generations. Now, of course, it's the East Coast! Two sailors planted a stone monument on the beach, officially declaring the claim of the Republic of China on the east coast of China.

Now that sovereignty has been declared, Li Yi has become addicted to naming this newly "discovered" land. This place is probably the loneliest area on earth at the moment, well, that lonely mountain is called Lonely Mountain, and this bay is called Lonely Mountain Bay. A Navy cadet staff officer stood behind Li Yi and immediately and faithfully wrote the name on a freshly drawn map as soon as he heard his words.

The sailors went ashore in search of water under the escort of some Eight Banner warriors, and the remaining more than 400 Eight Banner warriors had all gone ashore at this time. On solid land, many of them were almost moved to tears when they were about to go crazy by the wind and waves. Mo Dayong, the leader of the Eight Banners Warriors, was ordered by Li Yi to take a group of Eight Banner warriors who were still in good spirits and began to go to the edge of the inland forest to cut down some trees.

According to Li Yi's thoughts, some of the Eight Banner warriors who were in too poor physical condition and were no longer suitable to continue sailing with the fleet would be temporarily placed here. And what everyone needs to do now is to build a simple defense and living facilities for them, such as wooden fences, houses, etc. They were joined by some unemployed sailors, who took out a lot of saws and felling axes from the cabins, and went to the edge of the forest to cut down trees.

The group worked for several days, until a wooden fence, two watchtowers, and a row of a dozen or so wooden houses were erected for the seventy or eighty warriors who were to remain here. Mo Dayong appointed one and two governors among the Eight Banners warriors who remained here, and instructed them to stay at their posts here, and if they had spare time, it would be best to build a wooden trestle bridge along the coast, so that they could dock next time a ship arrived.

The expedition team left them enough food to eat for two years, two hump cattle, some grain and farming tools, tools and weapons, salt and cloth and other daily necessities, and even two 4-pounder cannons. Although no indigenous activity has been found in the area, and if there are, most of them are in the Stone Age, but it is always true that there is no need to be prepared.

After everything was arranged, on April 15, the expedition fleet, which had rested for several days, left the dozens of Eight Banner warriors who had been alone in the area, left the Lonely Mountain Bay, and began to continue eastward with the ocean current and the west wind. This time, with the east-west stretch of the Australian land as a reference, the journey of the East Coast Expedition Fleet sailing eastward along the waters of the Great Australian Gulf was much smoother. The wind and waves along the way are not very strong, and the currents and wind directions are enough to give face, and this voyage to the east coast of Australia is really pleasant. (To be continued......)