Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 49 The Trip to Tierra del Fuego

Although the weather was cold, beads of sweat still oozed from Lu Ming's forehead.This was frightened by this group of fanatical Indian "shopaholics". Fortunately, these Indians had no malicious intentions, and they seemed to be purely here for business.

At this point the transaction has ended.Looking at the messy objects such as animal skins, dried animal meat, animal bones and teeth placed everywhere under his feet—oh, and there is also a yellow llama, Lu Ming felt a little headache. How to deal with these things? .To be honest, these Indians are quite kind, at least they didn't take everyone's salt in vain, but took out what they thought was the most precious thing in exchange.But the problem is, these "most precious things" are really not of much use to Lu Ming and the others, on the contrary they are a burden.

Alas, just spend money to form a good relationship.At least it didn't turn into a hostile situation with these Indians, so that's already good, Lu Ming thought sadly.

This unexpected transaction with the Indians only lasted about half an hour. The Indians traded away most of the salt that everyone carried, and they didn't even look at anything other than salt.Half an hour later, Lu Ming's detachment, which had tidied up neatly, started on the road again.They threw away the oddly shaped bones and teeth, left part of the dried meat that didn't look so suspicious, and kept all the animal hides.Cooking soldier Mathias packed these items into different categories, and then put them on the yellow vicuna.Fortunately, these things are not heavy, the llama just barked a few times in dissatisfaction.Mathias laughed out loud. He was quite satisfied with this exchange item, because it meant that he no longer needed to carry heavy items such as iron pans and horse spoons.

At noon the troops stopped.After ordering the soldiers to rest on the spot and prepare lunch, Lu Ming led a few people up a small hill next to them.The height of the hillside is not high, it looks like 80 meters. The side facing the sea is a cliff, but the side facing the inland has a certain slope for people to climb.

The area of ​​the top of the mountain is not small, but there is no natural shelter for people to shelter from the wind, and because it is a rocky mountain, it is not easy to dig fortifications, so Lu Ming gave up after looking at it for a while. This place is not suitable for a secret observation post.

After lunch, they continued to explore. The group of people staggered among the hills and mountains against the light rain and strong wind.When it was dark around four o'clock in the afternoon, Lu Ming finally identified two places suitable for establishing observation posts.

"These two locations are not far apart. The one on the west has a natural grotto, which can be used as a good observation point with a little modification; the other one on the east has an open terrain and a good view, and the top of the mountain is still muddy, so it can be excavated for fortifications. "Lu Ming took a sip of wine, and said after driving away the cold air on his body, "These two places are the observation points. They are less than two days away from the east entrance and exit of the Strait of Magellan, and the time is just right. As long as If we pass the news in time, the navy will be dispatched immediately to sink or capture the Spanish ships at the exit of the strait."

"How did the news get out?"

"According to the pre-departure plan. During the day, use the signal flag. Tomorrow, you will find some tall wooden poles, and then find a fixed place at the foot of the mountain on the inland side of the observation point to set up the poles. Mathias, a We will distribute the colorful small flags we brought to everyone. If you find the enemy, hang the small flag on the top of the wooden pole, so that the people in the next place will understand, and then they will follow the same method to relay the Send the signal. At night, light a fire to send the signal. Note that the place you choose to send the signal must be open and suitable for others to observe from a distance. Once each signal point is determined, it cannot be changed.”

"The fire light can travel very far at night, which is easy to observe. But it is not easy to observe the signal flag during the day. Sometimes rain, snow or cloudy days may interfere with our sight. Even with a telescope, we may not be able to see clearly. What should we do in this situation?" Someone asked.

"That's a good question, I'm here to solemnly remind everyone, if you can't see clearly or can't confirm whether your superior signal point has sent you a signal, then just pretend that nothing happened, that is to say, there is no hostile situation. Lu Ming said solemnly: "In this case, at most we can let go of some lucky Spanish ships, and we don't have much loss. But if the signal is mistransmitted, the navy may encounter the enemy's large fleet and suffer losses." "

After hearing this, everyone nodded their heads one after another. This matter must not be sloppy.

In the early morning of the next day, after leaving some people behind to repair the fortifications at the two observation points, Lu Ming led the rest of the people and began to follow the map to determine the signal transmission route nearby.This is hard work, and they must constantly walk back and forth between the mountains and the grass to determine the best route.From the observation point in the strait to the northeast coast of Fuego Island, the entire signal transmission distance is more than 7 kilometers, and 10-[-] signal transmission relay points must be arranged in the middle.How to transmit signals more efficiently requires careful study and hard work.

After tossing for several days, I finally determined the process and location of the entire signal transmission.Lu Ming discussed with everyone, and finally decided to keep six people at each signal observation point, divided into three groups to observe in turn; in addition, 8 signal transmission relay points were set up in the middle, and two people were reserved at each relay point; In total, 28 people need to be arranged.

After confirming the manpower and location, Lu Ming distributed a batch of binoculars that he had brought with him, and then everyone brought enough equipment and food and scattered away.They will continue to work here until the mission is canceled or the war is over.As for the efficiency of this seemingly complex but fragile system, only God knows.

A week later, Lu Ming showed up on the coast with two soldiers.They found the small boat hidden on the shore, and then rowed towards the "Galicia Flying Fish" moored in the bay.The sea was bitingly cold, and Julien, who had been waiting impatiently for a long time, spotted them immediately, and quickly pulled them onto the deck.

The sailor brought some strong wine for Lu Ming and the others to keep out the cold.After Lu Ming took a few gulps, the blood came to his face again. "Ahem... It's a really hard work this time. I never imagined that I would dare to travel long distances, go deep into the barren land, and do such a complicated thing, haha. Julien, give us some more heat Tang Shui, the weather is really too cold. By the way, hurry up and return to the voyage. After we return, the 'Eagle of the East Coast' should come out."

At the same time, in the Dayuhe Naval Shipyard, the passenger and cargo ship Yunsheng No. 24 has completed its final modification.Three square sails are hung on the tall mast, and there is a diagonal stay sail fixed by cables at the bow.This was modified to increase the speed of the boat in tailwinds, but also to save fuel.Since it is a passenger-cargo wheel, there is not much room left on the deck.The designers of the Admiralty tried their best, and finally only installed 24 guns on the deck, including 4 18-pound naval guns, 8 12-pound naval guns, 8 8-pound naval guns, and 4 [-]-pound naval guns. Door.It can be seen that in order to make up for the lack of artillery, the caliber has been greatly enhanced.

This time Yunsheng No. [-] made a strong attack and attracted the attention of many people.Xiao Bailang, who was far away in Dingyuan Fort, immediately ran into the office of Wang Qinian of the Ministry of the Navy, and strongly demanded that he, the former captain of Yunsheng No. [-], personally drive the attack this time.After hearing his request, Wang Qinian had no reason to object, after all, he was the former captain.Moreover, Yunsheng No. [-] has a great symbolic meaning, and it really needs an official at the level of a member of the executive committee to take command, so the matter is settled like this.

Captain Xiao Bailang showed up, and all the crew members of the former Yunsheng No. [-] gathered again.Chief Mate Wang Tiehammer, Chief Engineer Han Dezhi and other crew members who were so idle that their bodies were about to become moldy spent the past few days on the ship, maintaining the entire ship's equipment inside and out, and even scrubbed the deck several times. Just waiting eagerly for departure.

In addition to the original dozen or so crew members, the refitted Yunsheng No. 32 also needs some manpower to operate the sail cables.In addition, the gunner and a certain number of handymen are also indispensable.It is easy to find manpower to operate the sails and ropes. The 30 students from the 24nd class of the Sailing School are already on standby at any time, and they have mastered the basic skills quite well.As for the gunners, 100 guns also require at least 120-[-] gunners.This number is a bit too large, and the navy simply cannot gather so many gunners, because there is also a shortage of gunners for coastal defense turrets.However, it is not necessary for all the people here to be able to operate cannons. Some rough tasks such as carrying shells and resetting cannons can be done by coolies.In this way, one-third to one-half of the number of regular gunners can be saved.

On April 4, the Executive Committee carried out the third wave of mobilization and selected 1 people from the militia who had received artillery training.Among them, 120 people were assigned to Yunsheng No. 80 as gunners, and the remaining 40 people were still assigned to the naval coastal defense batteries.In addition, 50 Charuyas who performed well on weekdays and were strong and strong were also sent to Yunsheng No. [-] to serve as coolies such as cannonball porters in various artillery groups. capable.

After replenishing supplies, on April 4, Yunsheng No. 2 also slowly left the port and headed for the vast South Atlantic Ocean.In the next few days of the voyage, they will carry out training while sailing, and run-in the team, in order to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible.

First stop - Malvinas Islands.

(End of this chapter)