In the depths of the night, the constellation Southern Cross hangs high in the sky, guiding sailors. Under the moonlight like water, Aldebaran in Taurus strives to show its presence. Without accurate timekeeping instruments, sailors sailing the sea would have to calculate the angle of the red giant star to the moon and compare it with a star map to get an approximate longitude.

Chen Shouxu stood on the stern tower, and he took the dog shift at night, which is the popular name of the sailors for the twilight shift from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.

The temperature was already very low, and Chen Shouxu put on winter clothes, and his whole body, including his hood, was covered with thick fur. It's been almost a month since I left Buenos Aires. As the fleet continued to advance to the south, the magnetic declination gradually increased from 16 degrees 30 minutes to 19 degrees 45 minutes the day before yesterday, and the compass course was completely incapable of indicating the north and south.

The wind direction is roughly changing between north and south, and the fleet has a daily range of 100 nautical miles downwind and only a little more than 20 nautical miles upwind. The fleet sailed due south roughly 60 degrees west longitude. Just switch to a westward voyage around 50 degrees south latitude to bypass the Malvinas Islands (Falkland Islands). Now the island's hideous figure has been left far behind by the fleet. After a long ocean voyage, sailors actually longed to be on land. This desire sometimes led even some of the most experienced sailors at sea to errone, and yesterday morning a large cloud on the horizon had led some of them to mistake for land.

The battleship put away the rope knots used for speed measurement, and the sailor reported to Chen Shouxu, "The speed is 2 knots." ”

Chen Shouxu nodded to indicate that he understood, and that he had to compare the length of the voyage between the latitude and longitude measured according to the logbook every day, and for this reason, the Changshui had to measure its speed every hour. In the Age of Discovery, the calculation of latitude and longitude distances was simplified to mean that the distances between the latitudes of the earth were about the same, and because the meridians were of equal length, this distance was about 111 kilometers. At the equator, the distance of longitude is also about 111 km, and for the distance between the meridians at the α of latitude, it is 111 times cosα.

The closer the fleet is to the south, the more bad weather will appear. Hail, torrential rain, and sudden outbreaks of unusually strong winds are common. In order to ensure the safety of navigation, the battleship stopped sailing in the wind, and the top mast and top boom were retracted. Only the mainsail and bottom sail are hoisted. In the event of a strong sudden wind, even the truss must be lowered. Fortunately, the fleet has now mastered the regular maneuvers of these cross-sail warships, and is no longer as clumsy as it was at the beginning.

The warships had approached what the sailors called the Roaring Westerly Belt, and the Creator seemed to have played a joke on humanity, regardless of the Arctic route, and from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, all the ships on Earth had to go around the capes deep into the southern hemisphere in order to communicate across continents. Both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn are located in the region of the roaring westerly winds, where storms and cold weather, hail and freezing rain accompany the entire voyage across the westerly winds.

The wind was not strong, but there was a big swell towards the fleet, and Chen Shouxu clung to the bulwark to keep himself from falling off the stern. In the South Atlantic, even windless weather is often subject to such unusual swells. This meant that not far ahead, a strong gust of wind set off a terrible wave, and the wave spread even far beyond the area affected by the wind. (There is a difference between swells and ordinary waves, which is described in the British Naval Code of Conduct during the Age of Sail.) ）

Not to mention the Storm Strait and Cape Horn in front, even the Cape of Good Hope, which European countries have been sailing for more than a hundred years, is now an extremely dangerous sea area. Everyone forgets Cape of Good Hope, Cape of Storms, and every year the East India Companies lose a number of ships laden with cargo at Table Bay at the Cape of Good Hope. In this Age of Discovery, ocean-going sailors were undoubtedly the brave men of mankind. They are always exploring the unknown areas of the map with their lives.

The chef served a hot soup made of fresh fish and shrimp, and as he sailed through the turbulent South Atlantic, one of the few good news was the occasional large school of fish and shrimp swimming on the surface, and whenever conditions permitted, the fleet would send small boats to try to catch some to improve the food for the sailors.

Sipping on the hot soup, Chen Shouxu called his navigator to him, "Rhaegar, Rhaegar......

"Commander, Rhaegar has followed Mr. Norania to the Melville." An officer candidate who had just been turned a regular stood beside Chen Shouxu to remind him.

Chen Shouxu was a little apologetic, "I'm sorry, Harris. I'm used to it. ”

Harris. Acton was the second batch of officers to graduate from the fleet, replacing Rhaegar who had been promoted to first mate on the whaling ship Melville. Harris joined the fleet in Curacao, and he rose the fastest among the sailors. In this rapidly expanding team, talented people always stand out quickly.

"Harris, what is the declination today?"

"22 degrees 24 minutes, sir."

"Hand me the charts."

Harris laid the chart on the table in the stern, and he held up a whale oil lamp.

Chen Shouxu didn't notice this detail, he took out the compass and measured it on the chart in the dim light. Harris blinked slightly, the commander had a habit of taking out charts whenever and wherever he was sailing, even on an ordinary voyage with nothing to do, he could look at them for two hours. As if there was a lot of secret there.

Chen Shouxu's eyes stared at the chart, "Harris, at the current speed, we will approach the Strait of Magellan in the afternoon after tomorrow." ”

"Congratulations, Commander, we are getting closer to achieving our goal."

Chen Shouxu nodded, "The closer you get to the goal, the more you can't relax." The hardest part of the voyage is still ahead, and everyone has to work hard. ”

"Definitely. Commander, our fleet has the best sailors, the best captains, and the best commanders. ”

Chen Shouxu smiled, "What about the reserves of coal?" ”

"There is plenty of fuel, and at the current consumption, we can use it for another two months."

Thanks to the supplies in Buenos Aires, the fleet was loaded with enough coal, and what could not fit in the holds was even piled up on the open deck. Sailing in cold seas, it is very important to ensure that the sailors have hot food as much as possible to maintain the combat effectiveness of the whole fleet.

Chen Shouxu put down the compass. Acton put away the nautical survey tools one by one, picked up the wooden box and turned around to send it into the stern. Chen Shouxu stopped him, "Harris, you did a good job. ”

Acton was slightly stunned, then saluted Chen Shouxu and turned to leave.

The situation was a little worse than Chen Shouxu had predicted, and the wind direction was uncertain, so that the battleship could not see the land of Tierra del Fuego until the third day.

All the officers ascended to the stern and drew their binoculars to observe the spectacular sight before them.

The entrance to the Strait of Magellan is only 15 nautical miles, and the channel is winding. A strong sea breeze filled with moisture blew from the west, casting a thick layer of fog over the strait in the distance. Strangely shaped headlands and reefs stretch from land to sea, and the waves crash against the reef with a deafening sound. The westerly wind stirs up the current, and from time to time whirlpools appear, indicating that there are likely reefs in the sea there.

The roaring west wind band revealed its hideous face in front of everyone.

All the officers were pale-faced. The fleet was going westward, and it was full of violent westerly winds, and the channel was so narrow that it was difficult to sail in a zigzag, and a crosswind pressed the battleship to hit the rocks.

Whispers of scolding continued to come from the crowd.

Chen Shouxu said to everyone, "Gentlemen, the entrance to the strait you see is already the widest channel in the entire Strait of Magellan, and the narrowest part of this raging strait is less than 2 miles. ”

"Commander, this is too difficult. Our fleet sailed into the straits in a way that was simply suicidal. ”

It's already the beginning of April, and the pirate fleet has missed the best season to get around South America. However, the cold season in Antarctica has just begun, and Magellan sailed through the strait at about the end of the cold season, and the temperature is about the same as Chen Shouxu's now. According to the records of later seafaring explorers, it took three or four months to cross the 300-nautical-mile strait.

"Gentlemen, you are right, it is too risky to sail into the Strait of Magellan," Chen Shouxu waved his hand to stop the officers' discussions, "and we continue south, bypassing Cape Horn. ”

In the face of this arduous voyage, it was only the prestige accumulated by Chen Shouxu's previous battles and the pirates' desire for wealth on the Pacific coast that prompted the fleet to continue sailing south.

The coast of Tierra del Fuego is on the starboard side of the fleet.

The Changshui measured the depth of the water, the bottom of the sea was covered with sand and gravel, the depth of the channel was about 45 to 65 fathoms, and the error of the compass widened to 23 degrees and 30 minutes.

The natives of Tierra del Fuego lit a fire in the fleet's field of vision, and black smoke rose into the sky.

Acton observed for a moment and said, "Commander, I think these natives are signaling us. ”

Chen Shouxu hadn't paid attention to this yet, "How did you judge it?" ”

"They always lit the fire in the direction we were going, and the fire behind us was extinguished, and there was not a single pillar of smoke."

Chen Shouxu hurriedly pulled out the binoculars and looked at the stern, "Harris, I have to admit that what you said makes sense. ”

Magellan sailed through the narrow straits, and the most striking sight he saw at night was the sparkling fires on the shore, which is why he named the island Tierra del Fuego.

Seagulls fly in the stern of the battleship, waiting for an opportunity to catch the upturned fish. There were many penguins and seals on the shore, and some calves accompanied the fleet, and Chen Shouxu signaled the Melville to leave the whales alone, and the fleet's purpose now was to reach Cape Horn as soon as possible.

The wind direction changes drastically throughout the day, from south to southwest, west and northwest, with no regularity, which makes sail manoeuvring very difficult.

On the first day of departure from the Strait of Magellan, as the sea conditions permitted, the battleship let go of the run, and the fleet sailed 100 nautical miles. The next day the fleet reduced its speed to less than 2 knots. The ships sailed 8 to 10 nautical miles offshore, and the sailors carefully steered the battleships. Chen Shouxu demanded that the coast of Tierra del Fuego must always be included in the visual distance, and that no one should leave for a moment. The fog on the surface of the sea made it impossible for him to measure the angle of the sun every day, and now only the primitive coastal visual navigation was safest.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the third day that the island of Staten was seen in the telescope.

The wind is southwest and west.

The island of Staten was called Estados on the map of Argentina in later generations. But now, the island was first discovered by a Dutch expedition in 1616, and Europeans call it Statenland.

Between Tierra del Fuego and Staten is the Le Maire Strait, named after the Dutch merchants who participated in the expedition.

The fleet moved along the coast of Tierra del Fuego. The wind was weak and the fleet was slow. Cape Santiago on the western shore of the Strait of Lemaire was in front of the battleship.

This was the most critical turning point of the fleet's entire expeditionary voyage, and Chen Shouxu used tobacco to beat his spirits and stayed up all night until 7 o'clock in the morning after dawn. The starboard side of the fleet was facing the strait at Cape Santiago.

Chen Shouxu to Harris, who also stayed up all night. Acton ordered, "Hang the Signal Flag No. 76, notify the whole fleet, and follow the flagship's actions to turn the rudder." ”

"Do you want to attach a compass signal flag?"

"No need, let the captains grasp the compass course on their own."

Exhaling a long breath, Chen Shouxu gave what was probably the most exciting order in the past few months, "Starboard, full rudder." ”

"Yes. Helmsman, full rudder right! ”