On August 25, 1643, at the port of Lonely Hill in Australia, a fleet of six ships slowly anchored at the dock after crossing the waves of the southern Indian Ocean. An armed transport, a fast cruiser, a frigate gunboat, and three flute-type transports, all of whom seemed to have fought violently with the wind and waves, many of them were not in very good condition, and the foremast of the fast cruiser in the fleet was even broken, and it looked miserable. Seeing this, the workers of the shipyard on the shore immediately vacated the dock and picked up their tools to prepare for the repairs of the ships in this fleet.

"First of all, the armed transport ship 'Galician Exocet' and the transport ship 'Hump Cow' will be repaired, and they will next go to the port of Jinshan." Lieutenant Huang Yang, who led the team, roared loudly as soon as he got off the boat, and at the sound of his voice, the transport ship 'Hump Cow' from the East African Transport Company slowly sailed into the vicinity of the dock, and then, with the assistance of a large number of dock workers and ship repair workers, it took great difficulty to sail into the dock where the water was stored.

Subsequently, the workers on the platforms on both sides of the dock immediately hoisted many heavy ship boards, masts and other objects onto the deck through large pulley cranes, and in the dock, some craftsmen and apprentices had already climbed onto the deck of the "Hump Cow" and began intensive maintenance work.

The Hump Cow is part of the East African Transport Company and is the second flute-type transport ship produced by Xinhua Shipyard itself. This time, the local government sent a second fleet to the east, and when it docked at Xinhua Port for replenishment, it was announced that the Executive Committee had requisitioned the "Hump Niu", which they had just completed construction, which made Shi Qinjie, an honest man, a little annoyed, but after seeing that the Executive Committee decided to support another group of shipbuilding technicians to come to Xinhuaxia. to expand the scale of Xinhua Shipyard. Shi Qinjie's anger dissipated a little. No way. With his arms but thighs, the sad East African Transport Company became the commander of the barebones again, and the "Hump Cow" was assigned by the Executive Committee to the dispatch fleet of the Far Eastern Port of Blackwater, and will be stationed there in the future.

The "Hump Cow" shared the fate of two old ships, the armed transport ship "Galician Exocet", which was originally captured by the Spaniards, and the frigate gunboat "Red Trout". Both ships will also be sent to the East as part of the Blackwater Temporary Dispatch Fleet, which is under the direct jurisdiction of the Admiralty. By then, the newly formed Blackwater Temporary Dispatch Fleet would have nine ships, including four steam engine galleons, two flute transports, two armed transports, and one frigate gunboat, and the Dutch would be able to rival them in Chinese waters. After these ships left for the East. The remaining one fast cruiser and two flute-type transport ships will return to the new Huaxia base, wait for the convergence with a group of ships coming from mainland China at the end of the year, and then sail to Gushan Port in Australia.

At this time, there was a sailing ship moored in Gushan Harbor, and that was the newly promoted Lieutenant Ashi's "Breaking the Waves". Late last month, he stuffed a full 1,000 North Koreans into his ship and headed west along the south coast of Australia, taking more than three weeks to reach the port of Gushan in the southwest corner. At this point, all the North Korean immigrants who were transported south from the port of Heishui were all here, and of course, there were less than 200 North Koreans left in the port of Jinsan, who were in poor physical condition. It's no longer suitable for further voyages. Therefore, Anju settled them in the local area, and simply stayed there to cultivate and graze. It's good to supply the passing fleets later.

"1,500 people went south from Heishui Port, and now only 1,000 people have returned to New China with me, hehe, this proportion is a bit low." Second Lieutenant Huang Yang smiled at An, "It will take them nearly a month to reach Xinhua Port, and then there are several voyages from Xinhua Port to Hezhong Port, and from Hezhong Port to the mainland. ”

"So we need faster ships." After wandering outside for a long time, the second lieutenant's collar was covered with dust, and he continued: "One is a ship that needs a larger tonnage, faster speed, and more space, and the larger the ship, the less likely it is to be bumped, the less people will suffer, and the survival rate will be higher; Another is that we should also choose the right season for sailing, for example, it is unwise for us to sail south in the early summer of the northern hemisphere. Most of the time the wind is not right, neither in the southern nor the northern hemisphere! Li Yi and I summed it up and felt that we should choose the northern hemisphere to go south when the north wind blows in October, at this time, both the northern hemisphere and the northern half of the southern hemisphere are tailwindy, and the sailing speed will be greatly improved. Moreover, there are no severe weather such as cyclones and storms in the North Pacific this season, and the survival rate of ships has greatly improved. ”

"Speaking of bad weather, when we took the 40 degrees south latitude route this time, the wind was very strong, and there were even floating icebergs on the sea that we hadn't encountered in the previous voyages. The Flute Transport, which had the misfortune of hitting an iceberg while sailing at night, sank......" Huang Yang said as he lit a pipe and took two puffs.

Anju was also a little silent when he heard this. This is the first time that a ship has been sunk by the convoy of the people on the east coast, and perhaps everyone has used up all their previous good fortunes, and this time a ship has finally sunk.

"What did the Portuguese say before, that no ship could return to Europe from the Far East three times in a row, and that we were much luckier than the Portuguese. Of course, our sailing conditions are much better than theirs, thanks to our knowledge of the ocean and climate. This time it was just an accident, don't worry, sea boy, nothing can knock us down. Ansu patted Huangyang on the shoulder and comforted.

The two of them had been working together as staff officers in the Admiralty, and later they had joined the fleet together, and they had a very good relationship, and of course he didn't want his old friend to have any shadow because of this. Of course, he didn't ask about the fate of the crew on the "Kongtong", because there was no need to ask at all, the crew would not survive long in the icy sea area with such strong winds and waves, so they could only give more comfort to their families.

"Men on the sea have this awareness." Huang Yang, who is already in his thirties, is quite open-minded, and I saw him baring a mouthful of yellow teeth and saying with a smile, "If I die one day, just help me take care of my three children." The shares of the East Coast Company are inherited by my eldest son, and you help me take care of him as an adult. It's a pity that the 'Kongtong' is a new ship, full of sorghum from South Africa, and now it is all fed to the fish, but it's a pity. ”

"That's a pity, hundreds of tons of grain, and a dozen sailors." Anji also sighed and said.

"There are also some soldiers from the army who came with the ship this time, the 104th Company of the Army, the second battalion of the first standard of the Eight Banners New Army, and some supplementary soldiers and gunners, totaling more than 1,200 people. They will go to the Far East with the ship, join the Blackwater Dispatch Army, and accept Mo Ming's command and dispatch. Huang Yang pointed to the other two flute-type transport ships and said with a smile, "The horse manure of these army is lucky, I would rather be them ...... hit the iceberg."

"Isn't the 104th Company of the Army a South African unit? How did you transfer this unit? And what about South Africa's defense? "An's place is a little puzzled.

"Oh, you don't know what to do here. The War Department expanded the army, and the 104th Company of South Africa was renamed the 5th Company of the Army, and in addition, the War Department newly established the 104th Company of the Army in Ping'an County. Most of the officers and veterans of this company were transferred from the 4th Company, and then some new recruits were added, and after two months of intensive training, they were transferred to the Far East. Didn't Mo Ming write a letter to ask for an increase in the strength of the Heishui area, this time the War Department spent a lot of money, not only transferred a company of the army and a battalion of the Eight Banners New Army, but also sent an additional 100 reinforcements and 100 gunners to strengthen the strength here. Saying that, Huang Yang also pursed his lips and said in a teasing tone: "This kid is really the godson of the War Department, no one else can compare, Ha Luha." ”

"Huh." Yasuko smiled casually and didn't say anything more. If the reinforcements are counted, then the total strength of the people on the east coast in the Blackwater area has reached an unprecedented 2,300 men, and if you count the locally recruited servant army, the number may be even higher. With these people, the Yantai fortress under construction will no longer seem so empty, if they train a large number of qualified gunners, this fortress will face tens of thousands of Qing troops to attack, as long as the sea foreign aid channel is endless, there is no end to the possibility of falling in a short time.

"Oh, by the way, don't forget to bring back Mo Ming's work report and hand it over to the Executive Committee." An took out an envelope from his leather briefcase, handed it to Huang Yang, and said, "He told me in the letter that he asked the Executive Committee and the War Department to continue to increase the number of troops, and it would be better to send some cavalry from the mainland. If you really have a hard time, you can find a way to recruit some cavalry in Egypt. Those Mamluk leaders have taken so many benefits from us on weekdays, it should not be difficult for them to send some mercenaries. ”

"He's asking for a lot." Huang Yang muttered and took the envelope and put it in his briefcase.

Not far from them, Mao Desheng, the new commander of the 104th Company, was organizing his troops to disembark to rest, and they were followed by dozens of European immigrants who had been exiled here, as well as about 100 Guarani and Malays. These people will serve their sentences under the supervision of the local military police, and after serving their sentences, they will automatically settle in the local area and become residents of Gushan Harbor. Local officials will also allocate them houses, land, or pastures to replenish the sparse population.

On 1 September, the three ships that had been rested and recuperated, loaded with soldiers and some weapons and ammunition, left Gushan Port and headed for the next target, Jinshan Port. They will anchor there to rest and await the arrival of a second convoy of ships from the mainland. (To be continued......)