After entering the Han River from the estuary near Ganghwa Island, you need to sail a long distance to the southeast, and the channel here is fairly straight, so there is no major danger.

However, the 200-ton displacement fast crab class and the 400-ton displacement sea shark class of the Huaxia Kingdom are considered big ships in the entire East Asian Korean and Wa regions.

Originally, such a "big" ship had never been walked on this waterway, and logically speaking, it was better to be careful and slower.

However, the Han River Detachment took a very easy route when it entered the left channel of the Han River estuary.

Because, the United Kingdom of China has long seized Ganghwa Island, which holds the mouth of the Han River.

The defenders sent by the kingdom to Ganghwa Island are not dry after all.

While they were deterring Houjin, they were also surveying and mapping the nearby sea areas and shipping lanes, and the shipping lanes exposed to the fire of the defenders of Ganghwa Island had long been clearly explored.

So, with the help of a large amount of survey and mapping data, the fleet passed through this area with ease.

However, the trouble of the Han River detachment is still to come, and after passing through this channel, the fleet will have to pass through a serpentine channel composed of two curves of about 90 degrees.

When the Han River detachment had brought the merchant ships in the way under control, it sped up and sailed against the current for about two hours before coming to the end of this serpentine channel.

This serpentine bend is just on a very complex terrain, and the waterway detection in this era is not as simple as before Chen Xin's crossing, which can clearly show the underwater situation of a waterway on the computer with a sweep of an instrument such as sonar.

In this era, when measuring hydrological data, it is necessary to take a small sampan, insert a measuring tool into the water, and measure it section by section, which is full of danger and extremely time-consuming.

In addition, the serpentine bend is still far away from the fire defense range of the defenders of Ganghwa Island, and without the help of the defenders, it adds several times the risk to the measurement of water ripple data.

Therefore, until now, the underwater situation inside this bend has not been in the hands of the Huaxia military.

Inland shipping, although not as stormy as the sea, is not a safe and worry-free road.

If you are not familiar with the terrain on land, you just go in the wrong direction, as long as you don't get lost in the deep mountains and old forests, under normal circumstances, you don't have to worry about your life.

However, in the water, if the water pattern data in the channel is not known, then it is impossible to tell when a ship in front will pass smoothly, and a ship behind will be destroyed and killed.

Even in later generations, in the 21st century, there are not a few cases of boats capsized every year in various large rivers and rivers because they are not familiar with waterways, and there are not a few people who die on inland rivers every year because they are not familiar with waterways, and there are people who die on inland rivers every year.

So, when it got here, the Han River detachment slowed down, and the whole fleet floated together on the surface of the river, as if waiting for something.

At this time, Captain Zhou Mingde had already arranged for personnel to repair the telephone line that had been bitten by the ship cat, and completed the last pre-war inspection in the bilge.

After hearing the news that the herald had reached a serpentine bend, he returned to the command room and took command of the whole fleet.

Captain Zhou Mingde looked left and right, the river here was slowly narrowing, and the current became very turbulent, nodded, and affirmed the order given by the first mate to stop the ship and wait.

Then he ordered, "Let down the dinghy, release the water ghosts, and let the water ghosts guide the fleet to sail, turn on the following lights, and order the ships behind them to separate themselves from a safe distance, and follow the flagship slowly through this passage." ”

"Yes." Several heralds turned and went out to deliver orders.

The water ghost that Captain Zhou Mingde is talking about here is not the kind of water ghost that harms people in ghost stories and myths and legends, but a special type of military that has been used in China for a long time.

There is a detailed description of this type of troops in the Water Margin, which is the famous section of the water ghost team digging boats underwater and capturing Gao Yu alive.

Until the end of the Qing Dynasty, in the First Opium War, there were also relevant records of this type of army fighting in the sea.

Of course, the construction of this branch of the kingdom's navy is not for combat purposes.

The rifled guns on the battleships of the Kingdom Navy are much more effective than the water ghosts, even if they are the longest infiltration operations in the kingdom, they are not needed, after all, in this era, they cannot be used as high as water infiltration.

Therefore, the kingdom formed a water ghost team, that is, in order to perform search, mapping, salvage, etc., special work that needs to be carried out underwater.

Now, in the face of a complicated and unfamiliar channel, it is time to send this team.

Five minutes later, the two dinghys of the Kokang's sidestrings were connected to a transmission mechanism connected to the steam engine by means of several sets of pulleys. Then, under the command of several non-commissioned officers, the dinghy slowly fell to the surface of the river.

Immediately afterwards, a group of water ghosts wearing shark water, with the help of more than a dozen sailors, took two small boats.

As soon as the dinghy had been rowed some distance, a naval officer gave the order: "All sailors check the knots of the ropes one last time to see if there is any looseness." There is no safety hazard. ”

"The No. 1 safety knot is good."

"Safety No. 2 is well knotted."

"The number three safety knot is good."

"The No. 1 survey knot is good."

"The No. 2 survey is well knotted."

"The machine holds the knots well."

The officer listened to the reports from various places, ticked the record sheets in an open folder one by one, and after verifying them, gave the order again: "Hang the rope to a depth of 5 meters." ”

A long rope coiled on a reel with an iron block hanging from the tail was lowered by the sailors and plunged deep into the river.

On the rope, there will be a clear mark every half a meter, and when the falling rope reaches the 5-meter marking line, the sailors stop the rotating wheel and fix the wheel with clips.

When the naval officer gave the order again, "In pairs, everyone takes turns to go into the water, pay attention to safety, and pull the rescue rope if there is danger." After that, the two water ghosts, who had safety ropes fastened around their waists, turned over and got out of the boat and dived into the water.

The current United Kingdom of China does not have the ability to make things like oxygen cylinders, so the water ghosts can only carry out underwater mapping by constantly rotating the way of air exchange.

Of course, after all, the kingdom is in the midst of rapid development, and there are still some practical new technologies.

It's like the diving goggles on the faces of the water ghosts, which is an epoch-making thing, which allows the water ghosts to see the target clearly under the muddy water.

There is also a warm device inside the water, which can prevent the water ghosts from losing temperature and dying when they go into the water in the cold season.

And the safety rope, which looks so thin that it looks like it can be broken with a single pull, but in fact, this thing is a real high-tech thing of this era, which can withstand great force and not break easily.

It is the last line of safety for the water ghosts, and it has saved the lives of the water ghosts many times.

Moreover, even if it is the only few times that he fails to save people, at least, he leaves a whole corpse for the water ghosts, which can be regarded as the last trace of comfort for the sacrificed water ghosts.