The combined fleet of Datang Western Company and Gerdes Trading Company, led by two cruisers and supported by a group of armed merchant ships, easily defeated the resistance of the Portuguese merchant ship and captured them, gaining a vessel of more than 500 tons in vain.
Galen's ship and its many cargoes, as well as supplies such as food and fresh water that were more important to them at that time.
Pirates, they did not encounter any troubles such as interception by the Portuguese. The real troubles they encountered actually came from nature!
Along the way, they encountered many crises and violent storms countless times, maybe eighty times if not a hundred times along the way.
Moreover, due to violent storms, they often deviated from their routes and were ultimately unable to reach their intended destination on time, resulting in various problems such as shortages of food and drinking water.
Sometimes they are even blown deep into the ocean, unable to see land for ten days and a half, and unable to get food and fresh water ashore.
Fortunately, Gerdes, an old pirate, has quite a lot of sailing experience, so he brought this combined fleet all the way here, with only a mere loss of more than 200 people on the way!
Well, for an exploratory fleet that had no supply port available and had to hide to avoid being discovered and intercepted by the Portuguese, it was pretty good that only more than two hundred people died after traveling such a long distance.
Ying Zihua looked down at the chart in his hand. This was a chart hand-drawn by the students at the Royal Institute of Technology, or to be more precise, it was a world map.
Finally, he said to Gerdes: "If we continue to West Africa, can we go?"
After hearing this, Gerdes frowned slightly, but still said: "It is definitely possible to go, but sailing against the wind will be very slow and easier to deviate from the route. In this way, we need to bring more
food and fresh water were supplied.
But in this case, we won’t be able to bring the goods. If you choose to continue moving forward, then unfortunately, you will have to move forward by yourself. I need to bring the goods and reach Europe safely!"
Ying Zihua took a deep breath at this time and said: "In that case, then you will stay, our Western Company will continue to move forward, and in addition, we will ask you to help take care of our company's trading station!"
Although they, Datang Western Company and Gerdes Trading Company, have been together all the way, they are just partners. Now they are unwilling to continue sailing against the wind, but are waiting for the monsoon. That is to make money. If they do not successfully bring the goods to Europe
, why did Guedes take such a big risk?
Even though he was an old pirate, he had traveled all the way from the Tang Dynasty to Europe without being able to obtain supplies from the Portuguese ports along the way, and he had to avoid being intercepted by the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean.
This is also quite dangerous. It is not an exaggeration to say that you can make money by putting your head in your belt.
Gerdes is unwilling to set off now, but wants to wait a few months for the northeast monsoon in October. He can understand, but his understanding does not mean that he is willing to do this.
So he turned around and ordered his men: "Give me the order, the Pine Forest will stay here. Only a small amount of cargo samples will be kept in the cargo hold of other ships. All other cabins will be filled with supplies. We will continue to move westward!"
Immediately, he said to the captain of the Pine Forest Hao: "Sell out the goods left here as much as possible. After processing the goods, go to the Persian Gulf to see the situation, and then you will return here, but there is no need to wait deliberately.
If the wind direction and time are suitable for us, you can return first!"
He can't afford to wait for half a year. He has already left the Central Plains for half a year. If he waits for another half year, then another half year, and then several more half years, is it possible that he still wants him to return home after several years?
According to the original plan, they should have gone all the way to Europe, but the navigation difficulties were more difficult than Ying Zihua expected. Originally, according to the plan, they should have arrived at the west coast of Africa before the end of the monsoon, but things went against their expectations.
The monsoon is over and they are still on the southwestern coast of India.
The itinerary and plan were seriously out of line.
However, Gerdes went to Europe for business, but that was not the case for Ying Zihua. His fleet was originally an expedition fleet. Some of the goods on board were said to be used for trade, but it was better to say that they were used to test the market.
of.
His purpose for meeting Zihua was not to trade, but to explore routes and open a number of supply stations to prepare for the subsequent large-scale trade fleet.
So as long as there are no large-scale casualties or other irresistible factors, he needs to move on!
His next goal is to directly enter the middle of the Indian Ocean, head to the northeastern corner of Africa, and then continue all the way south along the African coastline. How far he can go in the end depends on the situation!
Ying Zihua's expedition fleet is continuing to move forward, and at the same time, another expedition vessel, or another expedition vessel, is also sailing with difficulty in a sea area!
This ship is the Jinyuan that belongs to the Datang Western Company, but has been fully taken over by the Military Intelligence Department. It is a standard 680 merchant ship, with fast sailing speed and considerable force. Although the cargo capacity
A little less than a Galen ship of the same tonnage, but not too much less.
After the Jinyuan separated from the fleet last year, it sailed all the way west, and then arrived at the island of Bali in later generations. Then it changed course and sailed south here. However, it was a pity that due to the problems of wind direction and ocean current, they almost died in the vast ocean.
On the sea, it was finally possible to sail northeast thanks to a sudden storm.
Later, they finally managed to find a small island alive, which was later known as Timor Island. They managed to save a small life. However, it was not smooth when they arrived here. After landing, they erected a monument according to the old rules and included the place into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.
.
Then they tried to trade with the local indigenous people to obtain food and other supplies, but they were met with a "warm welcome" by the local indigenous people, forcing them to respond enthusiastically to the enthusiasm of the indigenous people with naval guns and muskets.
The sudden outpouring of enthusiasm from the indigenous people caused them to lose four comrades-in-arms. In order to commemorate their comrades-in-arms, they built a small landscape with hundreds of indigenous people!
After the first attempt to sail south failed, they continued westward and discovered several small islands one after another, but it was of little significance. They continued eastward, and this time they finally arrived at a continent, well, that is, in later generations
New Guinea, but the people in the Military Intelligence Department on the Jinyuan didn't think so.
They thought this was Australia at first, but after a closer look, they discovered that this broken island was not Australia because it was different from the Australia described by Sheng Tianzi.
The Australia described by the Holy Emperor is an extremely vast continent, and the north is desolate and full of deserts. Only the southeastern region is suitable for life.
But this place is full of jungles and savages, and has nothing to do with the desert.
So they randomly named Little Australia, and followed the old rules and erected a stone tablet after landing: Little Australia, the territory of the Tang Empire, February 26, the seventh year of Xuanping.
Then they continued to make simple observations around the small Australia, and this was the time to sail south again!
This time, they were fully prepared. All food and fresh water were prepared. In order to avoid windless and current-free waters, they even specially modified the Jinyuan and prepared some oars.
If you accidentally fall into the sea with no wind and no current, you can paddle away slowly by yourself.
When everything was ready, they started heading south with the determination to die!
Then, just a few days after they started sailing, they discovered that they had discovered several islands in succession in the south. With these islands, their sailing south became easier.
However, not long after, they realized that they seemed to have discovered a big island!
After a few days, the island still had no end, and after sailing close to the coastline and sending a small boat to land, they found that the place was a wasteland, and there were more ferocious savages.
This made them a little excited!
Although they were not sure yet, they took out the nautical charts and the top-secret complete world map for comparison, and finally determined that this should be the legendary Australia!
However, although they have doubts, they must confirm that this is Australia.
If this is Australia, then they need to continue to explore. At least, they need to find a place suitable for colonization, and the desert they see now is obviously not suitable.
On the Jinyuan, Wang Shanxi, an agent of the Military Intelligence Department who was tasked with finding Australia, squinted at the distant coastline. Now he was very sure that this was the legendary Australia.
In order to search for it, they spent half a year, experienced life and death several times, and suffered more than 20 deaths and injuries due to injuries, injuries, and indigenous attacks.
Now, they finally found it!
However, the Australia they see now is a desert, so desolate that they are not even in the mood to go ashore to check it out!
That poor place cannot be used as a colony at all!
They must continue sailing along the coastline of Australia, but not to the southeast. Although it has been marked on the map in his hand, there is a large area of fertile land in the southeast of Australia, but it is too far away and there is no suitable place along the way.
The risk is too great for the supply depot.
Therefore, he was preparing to find a place suitable for colonization and establish a stronghold on the northern coast of Australia to lay the foundation for subsequent exploration of Australia.
They sailed all the way along the coastline, and by today in late May, they had already made a large circle along the coastline of northern Australia.
First they sailed along the southwest direction, then turned to the northwest, which was equivalent to taking a big V shape, and then they sailed due north, and this sea area was actually Carpentaria in later generations.
Bay.
After leaving this bay, they continued sailing westward and finally came to a bay!
On this day, as usual, Wang Shanxi used the telescope in his hand to constantly observe the Australian continent in the south, trying to find a place suitable for colonization.
Then he discovered that the terrain here is relatively flat, with more vegetation, and there is also a bay that can serve as a port. They saw many such places along the way, and Wang Shanxi didn't find it too strange, so
Just follow the usual practice and send someone to log in to check the specific situation.
But shortly after the dozen or so crew members he sent rowed a boat to land, they saw the crew members running back to the boat, and then rowing quickly towards the Jinyuan.
Wang Shanxi thought they were being attacked by natives and were rushing to escape, but he didn't expect that as soon as they returned to the ship, they gave Wang Shanxi a big surprise: more than a dozen pieces of nugget gold of various sizes.
The largest piece among them weighs at least ten kilograms according to visual inspection.
When he saw these gold nuggets, his mouth couldn't close!