The Royal Navy has been training in Lingdingyang for more than a month, and the time has quickly reached the middle of the eighth lunar month.
After more than a month of training, the combat capabilities of the navy have been greatly improved.
Seeing that the typhoon season is about to pass, Su Chen decided to set sail immediately after the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The situation is very familiar and saves the fleet a lot of trouble.
The main fleet opened the way ahead, stopping to rest at every supply point, recording local hydrological and geographical information, calculating longitude and latitude, and waiting for the oar fleet.
After Guangzhou, Su Chen no longer had official maps or nautical charts, so he had to rely on himself for everything!
After arriving at the southern tip of Indochina, the fleet docked at a port called Pulian.
The accompanying Persian merchants said that this is the largest port in Shuizhenla, and it can enter the interior along the river. They used to trade with local residents here every time.
After Su Chen measured the longitude and latitude, he guessed that this was probably where the Mekong River entered the sea. The river that could go deep inland was probably the Mekong River or one of its tributaries. Who knows what the name of the Mekong River was in this era and how many branches it had at its end!
In other words, it's really worth exchanging the sextant and navigation clock, at least you can figure out where you are.
Song Ying and Yuan Jie were very greedy for navigation clocks. With this thing, who would look at the sky every night to measure the position of the moon, and who would need to record the star catalog for a long time.
Su Chen told them about star charts and star charts, which should be recorded, and the position of the moon should be calculated, which would be relied upon for future navigation.
Because there is only one navigation clock, and it was left to me by my master, and I can’t make it yet.
The master is lying, the system is real, but the system is too expensive to exchange for navigation bells. If Su Chen was not afraid of getting lost at sea, he would not be willing to exchange for one.
Craftsmen can already imitate the sextant. Although it is a bit rough, it is still barely usable. Moreover, the exchange price of the sextant is only one thousandth of that of the marine clock.
As for the nautical clock, this thing is extremely expensive. Su Chen estimates that it will only last a few decades, and it is unlikely that craftsmen will copy it. This thing is too damn precise.
So for a long time to come, navigation will have to rely on celestial navigation!
The Persians said that there was no decent port further south, unless one went around from the southern end to the west.
Su Chen has no intention of entering the Gulf of Thailand.
The fleet was ordered to repair and supply supplies at this port called Pulian, and then go directly south.
After the fleet rendezvous, they repaired for two days and then began their first real ocean voyage.
Sail directly from Pu Liang Port to Pulau Thong, the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula, which is Singapore Island.
There is the entrance to the Strait of Malacca.
Different from the previous voyage, which was just along the coastline,
This time we really entered the depths of the ocean.
Moreover, the nearly 2,000-mile voyage without supplies was also a test for the fleet.
Especially the sailing fleet.
Fortunately, the nearly 2,000-mile voyage went very smoothly.
The ten-day voyage did not encounter any big storms.
The fleet's navigation did not deviate greatly,
In this way, the fleet arrived at the southernmost tip of the Malay Peninsula with smooth sailing.
It went so smoothly that Su Chen couldn't believe it.
The Persians led the fleet to a natural harbor called Balu,
Tell Su Chen that this is the first safe haven they reach after crossing the long strait from the west.
Generally, after they cross the strait, they come here to observe the hydrology and wind direction before sailing north.
There is a small river in the harbor that flows into the sea, so there is no shortage of fresh water.
However, there are no large tribes on this shore, and they rarely landed here before.
The exploring ship in front came back soon and told Su Chen that they had found the entrance to the strait, which was hundreds of miles ahead.
The fleet was immediately ordered to repair here for two days.
