Cai Youcan is a young man in his twenties, he never imagined that he would become the deputy commander of a large ship regiment of 150 ships after learning to walk ships under Zhao Jiaren for five years.

In the eyes of outsiders, Cai Youcan's status is respected at this time, and he walks with the wind. Cai Youcan himself didn't even have time to think about these issues. A fleet of hundreds of ships simply cannot be lined up in a long line, and it must be divided into many fleets to advance. Zhao Jiaren's fleet is okay, the ships are all the same type and tonnage. Each of the other ships is different, and can only be formed roughly according to the speed of the ship.

Zhao Jiaren's ships, as the backbone of this group, could not form a separate fleet. These ships equipped with artillery were also assigned to various fleets as command, escort, and liaison ships. That is, Zhao Jiaren's fleet has experienced a hundred battles, and the ships have a high seaworthiness from the beginning of their design, which has taken on a heavy task.

At this time, in terms of geographical division, Guangnan West Road did not have an outlet to the sea, and Zhao Jiaren's old friend Xu Yuanzhi was the pacification envoy of Guangzhou Zhizhou and Guangnan East Road at this time. After the fall of the Pu family, Guangnan East Road helped build a coastal lighthouse from Fujian to Jiaozhi. The fleet was guided by a lighthouse, and the speed of the voyage was greatly increased.

By the time the last lighthouse disappeared behind them, the crowd had not yet understood the implications. After a day of sailing without a lighthouse, everyone began to feel that something was not quite right.

"Tell the fleet to keep up with the fleet. If you fall behind, no one will take care of it. Cai Youcan had the flagships of the flotillas raise these signal flags. These are things that have been said for a long time, but they must be emphasized in this vast sea. In the preparation stage, Zhao Jiaren's school helped other ships train many signalmen, and this basic situation can still be conveyed.

Deputy Commander Cai Youcan thought so, and Zhao Yichang's feeling was completely different. Being able to return to the sea reminded Zhao Yichang, who used to sell illicit salt, of the eventful years of the past. However, along the way, this spirit was soon consumed by the boring life at sea.

"Brother Zhao, was the one who sent the flag a word bought by Zhao Zhizhou?" One day, the shipowner's cousin sneakily found Zhao Yichang and said.

"Buy?" Zhao Yichang felt incomprehensible.

I asked the man how to use the flag, and he couldn't tell. But when it came time to send and receive the flag, the guy was very familiar. I think he was probably bought. The owner's cousin spoke in a rather insistent tone.

Zhao Yichang didn't feel this way, he said dissatisfiedly: "At that time, you were asked to go to Zhao Zhizhou's navigation academy to learn, but you didn't want to go. ”

"I didn't know I was going to learn this. And there are so many things before I set sail, where can I go. The owner's cousin struggled to explain.

Zhao Yichang didn't want to say anything more. When the class schedule of the Navigation Academy was delivered, many people, including Zhao Yichang, were dumbfounded. There are a lot of courses listed above, and many of them are unheard of. After actually going to class, the first thing the gang had to learn was to clean and use hammocks.

As a captain, he actually has to scrub the deck like a sailor. Zhao Yichang's first feeling was that it was too much. However, when he personally visited Zhao Jiaren's ship, he praised the clean and tidy ship. He can't lead by example himself, at least let the crew work hard to accomplish it.

There was not much technical work on the ship, and Zhao Yichang learned to steer and let his brother-in-law learn to operate the sails. Flags can only be selected according to the school. Unexpectedly, the school finally selected a few sailors in Zhao Yichang's fleet who did not have any special backgrounds.

"Don't think about it." Zhao Yichang persuaded the shipowner's cousin. The ship can only rely on the flag to transmit information every day, and if you don't trust this only source of information, you are covering your eyes and ears.

The shipowner's cousin stubbornly insisted on his opinion, "I'm not foolish. Just let that guy teach me the flag language. He obviously didn't want to teach. ”

Whether he doesn't want to teach or learn, Zhao Yichang really doesn't have the energy to distinguish this problem. However, what Zhao Yichang knows is that the fleet cannot do without flags now. Looking at the stubborn expression of the shipowner's cousin, Zhao Yichang said: "When I go back this time, ...... wait for the ship to dock in the Wolf Tooth Xiu Country, I will tell the people of Zhao Zhizhou and let them teach you the flag language." Now you give me the honesty to don't cause trouble. ”

has experienced a young age, and Zhao Yichang is very clear about the mood of not pleasing to the eye. He himself was also lawless back then, and did a lot of meaningless things. This time he was able to be the head of the fleet, precisely because Zhao Yichang was indeed ruthless and could suppress the formation. However, before that, Zhao Yichang was also not trusted because of his misdeeds when he was young. The sea is so idle again, Zhao Yichang is worried that the owner's cousin will come up with something.

The southbound fleet relied on the north wind, and Cai Youcan had to emphasize the communication between the fleets every day. The winds at sea are not as good as one would like, and often the winds from miles away are completely different. A large fleet of hundreds of ships will encounter such a problem. The vast sea is unfathomable, and on the shallow shore you can also drop anchor and wait for the time being. With Cai Youcan's measurement experience, anchoring in the deep sea is useless, and the ship can only follow the wind and follow the current.

Others think that the deputy commander of the fleet is high, and if he is high, he must have a high responsibility. During their breaks, the crew can clean, study, play sports, and practice their fighting skills at sea. The deputy commander's mind had to think about the location of the ships in the fleet at all times. Once contact is lost, one can only pray that the lost ships will be lucky enough to reunite with the large fleet.

According to the calculation of time, it was already January 7 of the third year of Jingding, and according to the measurement of the sextant, the fleet of ships going to the sea had reached the sea south of Zhancheng at this time. A few days longer will take you to the Extreme Rugged Peak, which later became known as the Natuna Islands. Since the Song Dynasty, the Cochin Ocean in central Vietnam and the Natuna Islands in the northwest of Borneo have been used as the boundary between China and foreign countries.

Since the previous year, Cai Youcan led five ships south. Originally, his task was to determine the route to Cochin, but he went smoothly, and Cai Youcan measured all the way to Zhancheng. And along the way, they met other Great Song ships and learned the direction of Natuna Island. With a sextant and other measuring tools in hand, Cai Youcan tried to go. As luck would have it, the fleet arrived here safely and took measurements of latitude and longitude.

This time, the fleet went south, and the relay station was not a city, but a 'very rugged head'. The island here has high mountains, which can be seen from afar. Moreover, there are no savages on the island, which is very suitable for a large fleet of ships.

Just about a day or two away from the extremely rugged head, a signalman came to tell me. "There is a ship in the Fifth Fleet that has lost its signalman, but there are people on board. Don't know what to do? ”

Cai Youcan's heart immediately became unhappy. It's a good thing that the ship hasn't gotten lost, but what's the deal with without a signalman? The crews of Zhao Jiaren's fleet were trained, and even then, the number of skilled sailors was not sufficient. And the sailors who were accustomed to the life of Zhao Jiaren's fleet did not like to go to other ships. Because of this, crews of other fleets are trained to serve as signalmen.

After thinking about it, Cai Youcan ordered: "Let the fleet send someone over to take a look." They don't want anyone to get sick! ”

The space on board is small, and it is easy to get infected if you get sick. Zhao Jiaren's fleet was very kind to sailors, but it was 'extremely serious' when dealing with infectious patients. One person's life is indeed very important, but everyone's life is even more important. When it comes time to sacrifice the ego to achieve the ego, the fleet will never be ambiguous.

This is also the reason why Zhao Jiaren's crew is not willing to go to other ships after learning simple pathology. Ships that do not have the knowledge to survive are not safe.