Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 173 Young Cadet
"Do you want to drink?"

At six o'clock in the evening on December 1630, 12, the Naval Training School located on the north side of Shixing Fort ended its teaching course for the day. After saluting and bidding farewell to the teacher, dozens of young people lined up in several columns and walked out of the classroom one after another.

In class, the teacher spent the whole day teaching about navigation mechanics, including a lot of knowledge about how wind, water current, ship shape, etc. affect the movement of ships, which made people feel dizzy.

After finally getting through the get out of class, these lively teenagers felt relieved and immediately ran outside as if they were escaping as soon as they left the teaching center.

This obscure knowledge is difficult to fully absorb and digest, as I only understand it vaguely.

However, it’s not their fault.

It's because these young people are too weak and have a poor foundation. After only two or three years of literacy training, they are forced to learn such advanced and difficult navigation knowledge. It is really a bit of forcing them to learn too much.

They were the first group of fast-track professional naval officers trained by the time travelers, and the course lasted only two years.

The Naval Training School began recruiting naval cadets two years ago. Except for five or six Spanish children who had learned some Chinese, most of them were beggars from Guangzhou brought back by the first immigrants. They were teenagers ranging in age from twelve to sixteen years old.

So far this year, three batches have been recruited, with a total of more than 40 students currently enrolled.

Their daily schedules are almost full. Except for the extremely busy spring plowing and autumn harvest seasons, when they will have a few days off to help with agricultural farming and harvesting, they basically spend their time learning various navigation theories in school. There is no such thing as winter and summer vacations.

Even after dinner, they would study politics and management in classrooms lit by candles and oil lamps.

Last year, the Qiming Island No. 1 Shipyard began to get on track with the addition of several experienced Ming Dynasty shipbuilders. When they were about to build slightly larger ships, these naval cadets had another training ground.

That is to follow the shipbuilder to familiarize yourself with the various stages of ship construction, so as to gain a deeper understanding of ship knowledge.

Although they are students in the crash course, the time travelers still have high hopes for them and want to train these naval cadets into capable naval backbones as much as possible so that they can gradually take on middle and low-level management positions in the navy.

In the new immigration season that is about to begin, more than ten cadets who have completed their sea practice will travel to Ming Dynasty as trainee officers to experience the magnificence of the great voyages firsthand.

Erich had just run out of the Naval Training School with a few familiar companions when he pulled them to a secluded street corner with a mysterious look on his face. He patted his shoulder bag and whispered, "When I left home this morning, I found a half-filled jug of wine on the dining table. My father forgot to put it away. So I secretly brought it out to share with you."

"The instructor doesn't allow us to drink..." Li Zhishang said, subconsciously looking in the direction of the Naval Training Institute.

"But I heard from Instructor Harvey that everyone on board must learn to drink alcohol. Many veteran sailors can even climb masts dozens of meters high and adjust the sails while drunk," Erich said disapprovingly. "Besides, after months at sea, the fresh water stored in the cabins has long gone rancid. The taste of it would definitely make you vomit up your last meal."

"This has led many people on the ship to choose alcohol over the green, stinking water. So, sooner or later, we'll all have to learn how to drink once we're aboard. ... So why not try some wine now? If, by the time we're aboard, we get into trouble because we don't know how to drink, we'll be laughed at by the sailors."

"What Erich said seems to make sense." Luo Yunpeng was also eager to try it after hearing this, and his eyes couldn't help but glance at Erich's bag. "How about each of us try it, just take a small sip. Before dinner, let's walk around outside a few more times to get rid of the smell of alcohol. The instructors shouldn't be able to smell it."

"Then let's try it..." Dong Zhenzhong's eyes sparkled. "I always hear those shipbuilders and sailors say that a man who can't drink is not a real man. ... We have to prove it!"

"It's no big deal!" Li Yanshan said with a smile. "Even if the instructor finds out, the worst that can happen is that we'll be punished by running laps on the playground. ...Hehe, we're about to board the ship as trainees, so cleaning the toilets and the dormitory won't be our punishment."

"Then let's each take a small sip?" Seeing that all his companions wanted to try drinking, Li Zhishang didn't insist anymore.

We are all men, so it shouldn't be a big deal to drink a little bit of alcohol, right?

Erich looked around, then took out the half-filled pot of wine he had secretly taken from his bag, and opened the cork. Immediately, a unique aroma of potato wine wafted out, causing the group of teenagers to swallow subconsciously.

"Hiss..." Erich took the first sip. First, he felt a spicy sensation in his throat, and then a burning sensation in his abdomen, which made him frown and his mouth curl up.

"It doesn't taste very good!"

"Okay, okay, it's my turn!" Li Yanshan was the closest, he grabbed the wine jug, tilted his head back, and took a gulp.

"Cough cough..." He drank a little too quickly and the wine choked his throat. He then hunched his back and bent his waist, coughing violently.

"Haha..." Seeing this, the young men couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Shh..." Li Zhishang quickly made a gesture to keep quiet.

Don’t be so noisy and attract the instructors.

This place is not far from the Naval Training School. What if an instructor is out for a walk and hears the noise and comes here? Wouldn’t he be caught red-handed?

Seven or eight young men laughed and drank half a pot of wine in a short time, one sip after another.

Before long, everyone's face turned red and they were obviously tipsy.

"Uh..." Erich stuffed the empty wine bottle back into his bag, exhaled a breath of alcohol, and said with a smile: "Okay, let's go away quickly, get some fresh air, and get rid of the alcohol smell so that we can go back for dinner later." "Why do I feel a little dizzy? Am I going to pass out?"

"Not really. If you feel dizzy, go get a basin of cold water and wash your face to wake yourself up."

"...If I had drunk alcohol like you did, it would be best to wash my face with warm water instead of cold water. This would alleviate the flushing and fever caused by alcohol. If you do what I say, the instructors at the Naval Training School will probably not notice that you had secretly drunk alcohol!"

Suddenly, a voice came from behind them, which scared the young men and made them turn around to look.

They saw a bearded Spaniard standing on the street corner, smiling, tilting his head, and looking at them with a mischievous look on his face.

"Who is he?...What did he say?" Li Yanshan asked in a low voice.

"I don't know." Everyone shook their heads and then turned their eyes to Erich.

"Excuse me, sir..." Erich straightened his naval cadet uniform, stepped forward, stared at the Spanish man he vaguely saw there, and asked in Spanish, "Excuse me, what can I do for you here?"

Please don't meddle in other people's business and make a fuss about us naval cadets drinking!
The instructors often taught us that as soldiers, we should have a sense of honor and must never insult the military uniforms we wear.

Well, even though we are still cadets and have not yet officially become proud naval officers, we still have to maintain our image.

You'd better be sensible and pretend you didn't see anything here!
"Me?" The bearded Spaniard couldn't help but laugh when he heard the other party's question. "Oh, I don't have anything to do here. Just casually walking around and taking a look. ... Oh, I didn't expect to see you naval cadets secretly drinking."

"I'm sorry, but these blocks are all military-owned. It's best not to wander around here unless you have nothing to do," Erich warned. "Otherwise, you'll be arrested as a spy. Then, you won't be able to explain what you did."

"Oh, is it possible that a spy could sneak into this island?" The Spaniard laughed when he heard this.

"..." Erich paused at this. "Whatever you're planning to do here, I'm still kindly advising you to leave immediately and not linger any longer."

"Well, alright." The Spanish man shrugged and waved at the teenagers. "Then I'll follow your advice and leave here. Well, then...see you later!"

With that said, he turned and left.

"Huh..." The young men let out a long sigh, looked at each other and laughed.

Soon, they straightened their uniforms, formed a column, and marched towards the empty street in unison.

At 7:30 in the evening, the naval cadets who had finished their dinner returned to the classroom one after another to prepare for the evening class and routine political management study.

"stand up!"

"salute!"

"Good evening, instructor!"

"Well, good evening!" Kuang Xu, the principal and navigation instructor at the Naval Training Institute, saluted the cadets but didn't order them to take their seats immediately. Instead, he looked at a European-looking man following behind him and said, "Fellow cadets, tonight I'd like to introduce you to a new instructor."

"Dani Olmo Carvajal, a former senior Spanish captain. In the following practical sailing course, he will teach you some valuable seafaring experience."

"Everyone, salute Instructor Carvajal!"

"Good evening, kids!" Carvajal was shocked when he saw the students present saluting him solemnly, so he smiled and waved his hand.

But then he thought again and it seemed inappropriate, so he imitated the cadet soldiers, raised his right hand, and returned a not-so-standard military salute.

"Oh no, it's him!" Erich recognized the instructor at a glance.

Isn't this the same bearded Spaniard who spotted them drinking secretly on the street corner more than an hour ago?

Will he report us to the principal?
"Okay, kids, please sit down!" said Carvajal.

He glanced around and happened to meet Erich's gaze.

"In a few days, you'll be joining the ship as trainees." Carvajal winked at him and said in his broken Chinese, "In the days ahead, I'll not only pass on to you as much of my over a decade of sailing experience as possible, but I'll also be on board to personally witness your transformation into true men!"

"..." Upon hearing this, Erich and other cadet soldiers suddenly became stern and showed a worried look on their faces.

(End of this chapter)