If there are no accidents, there will be accidents. Sure enough, an unexpected accident happened unexpectedly in Zhu Su.

Beginning that afternoon, black clouds suddenly converged in the sky, as if they were about to collapse. There were also big waves on the sea, and the whole world seemed to be destroyed.

From Zhang He's expression as if he was facing a great enemy, Zhu Su learned a news that made him extremely frightened: the storm was coming.

Storm at sea! Even if the ironclad fleet of later generations predicted a storm above the vast sea, they had to find ways to avoid its edge. Not to mention these "sampans" made of wood in the Ming Dynasty today.

Zhu Su immediately delegated the command to Zhang He, who had the most experience, and entrusted the life and death of the entire fleet to Zhang He. Zhang He, who got the command, immediately made a decision, led the fleet to turn around and return directly, preparing to return to the small island where he was stationed before the storm came, and wait until the storm subsided, and then plan to return to Daming.

After all, if you encounter a storm directly on the vast sea, it is equivalent to sailing straight to the Ghost Gate......

However, the heavens are always unsatisfactory. Before they could land on the island.

And the storm came.

……

……

"Your Highness, the fresh water on board is running out. No matter how much I save money, in two days, I am afraid that there will not be enough fresh water. ”

And the remaining dozen or so ships were more or less damaged by the storm. The most serious one, according to General Zhang's visual inspection, could only last another three days. ”

"There isn't much food left on the ship. During these days, most of the soldiers relied on sea fish to satisfy their hunger. Morale is getting sluggish......"

In the dilapidated cabin, the dog reported to Zhu Suyu with a worried face.

"Well, I see. You go down first, and help General Zhang well. After hearing this, Zhu Su's heart sank, waved his hand, and motioned for the dog to go down. And the back with anxiety propped up his forehead, thinking about the next countermeasures.

"Above the sea...... It's dangerous! Zhu Di looked at the clouds outside from the crack in the broken cabin, and there was a touch of disbelief in his tone. Who would have thought that a few days ago it would have been swept by such a terrible storm, and today, it would be calm again?

This sea is like an extremely unpredictable and extremely dangerous god. In the last moment, I may be communicating with you with a pleasant face. And the next moment, without warning, his face changed, and he summoned the power of heaven and earth to take your life.

Zhu Fan burst his head when the storm came, and now he has a white scarf wrapped around his head, and he looks quite nondescript when he wears the tattered prince python robe. He also had a sense of the aftermath of the catastrophe. He sighed sincerely: "Before, I thought that as the prince of the Ming Dynasty, we must be able to do what others cannot. ”

"I didn't know until I encountered a storm, no matter what kind of prince he was, in front of that kind of heavenly might, he was nothing."

"A ship of this size, in this sea, is like a grain of rice falling into Xuanwu Lake...... When the waves are gently lifted, the boat will capsize......"

"Fortunately, there is General Zhang Hezhang." Zhu Su was also very happy and sighed. "If it weren't for him, I'm afraid that the three of us brothers would have been fed fish a long time ago."

Fortunately, he did not hesitate to hand over the command to Zhang He. In the event of a storm, Zhang He accurately predicted the location of the storm and led the fleet to avoid many huge waves and whirlpools.

Although because of this, the fleet was completely lost. When the storm came, the sky and the earth were as black as ink, and it was impossible to tell the direction, there was no sun rising and moon setting, and I don't know how long I had been drifting on the sea.

But at least, these people are still alive, aren't they?

"I can now understand why you value General Zhang so much, Fifth Brother." Zhu Di rubbed his sour neck. "It's dangerous above the sea."

"If there were no generals like General Zhang, the army would have encountered a storm on the sea......"

"I'm afraid that if I don't even see the shadow of the enemy, the army will be wiped out."

"Hmm." Zhu Su also nodded. "If you want to develop in the future, you can't do without maritime trade and conquest."

"And maritime trade and conquest are inseparable from excellent captains and generals."

Thinking of this, Zhu Su couldn't help but smile bitterly. Now I'm still thinking about how Daming is, obviously even his own situation is difficult to protect.

If it had been swept away by a storm in the Pacific Ocean by now...... There is no sky or earth in the vast ocean, and there are not enough supplies...... Mo said that for Daming to keep the seed of Zhang He, the admiral of the navy, I am afraid that even I and my second brother Zhu Fan and third brother Zhu Li will be buried here.

Now I can only pray to the heavens, when the storm swept and raged, my people were not swept too far from land.

"Your Highness, the last general Zhang He asks to see you." Zhang He's voice came from outside.

"Come on in!" Zhu Su hurriedly invited Zhang He in, only to see that Zhang He's eye sockets were deeply sunken, and he had obviously not slept well for several days.

"General Zhang, but the location has already been determined?" Zhu Su asked. "The king's chamberlain has told the king a piece of news."

"The supplies I'm waiting for can't last a few days. If you wait until the day when the ammunition runs out of food......" Speaking of this, Zhu Su couldn't bear to say more.

What happens when you run out of ammunition? It was nothing more than a mutiny among the soldiers and was hacked to death by the soldiers. Or they struggled to support themselves and finally starved to death at sea......

All in all, within a few days, the fleet must find land, otherwise no one will survive.

And how to find the land, this heavy task is entrusted to Zhang He's shoulders.

“…… Now that the storm has subsided, the sky still has no stars to see. Zhang He shook his head bitterly. Forgive me for my incompetence, and my inability to discern where we are. ”

"It's not your ...... to blame," Zhu Su also sighed. If he could know the specific date and ensure that the ship was always motionless on the sea, he would have been able to roughly calculate the latitude and longitude of the day by calculating the longest and shortest shadows of a day. But a few days ago, when I was fighting the storm, day and night, I couldn't see my fingers...... He didn't know exactly what date it was.

"So General Zhang is here, is there something he wants to tell this king?" Zhu Su, who reacted, asked.

"The last general is here, and there is indeed something I want to ask His Highness." Jang Hyuk hugged his fists. "In fact, when the last general commanded the fleet first, although most of them only fled passively, he still roughly judged the route of the storm, and it should be all the way to the north."

"Oh?" Zhu Su was overjoyed. All the way north?

As long as they don't drift eastward, it means that they haven't left Daming too far!

"It should be ......," Zhang He hugged his fists with shame. The end will only follow a general trajectory. It cannot be ruled out that we are still being swept into the depths of the East China Sea. ”

"Now the general can't tell the way forward, and I don't know how far Daming is from us."

"Therefore, the last admiral is bold, can you ask Your Highness to order the fleet to go straight to the west? If you're lucky, you might be able to land at my Daming port......"

"Of course, the west may also be the Wa Kingdom, or the Liaodong, or the land of the Mengyuan Jurchens. Even...... It's still the sea. Zhang He spoke with difficulty.

(End of chapter)