The six sailing ships of the expedition fleet were finally renovated at the Vladivostok shipyard. When Song Tao and the others stood at the port of Arthur Port and saw the six sailboats slowly sailing into the bay from the port of Arthur, they were all stunned.

I saw that several sailboats were all black, the surface of the hull was even more mottled and dilapidated, and there were patches on the sails.

Li Shaojie next to him glanced at Song Tao and said suspiciously: "Old Song, is this the ship of our fleet?" ”

Song Tao glanced at Qiao Haipeng and asked with a smile: "Big brother, why do these ships look like bears, what did you smear on the boats?" It looks like it came out of a swamp. ”

Qiao Haipeng was angry, and scolded with a smile: "According to your meaning, should you make a few ships the same as new?" If you look at the ships coming from Europe, which one is not this bear-like. It's just camouflage, it's not so miserable in the cabin. ”

After the six ships docked one after another, Song Tao and the others couldn't wait to rush up, and Song Tao breathed a sigh of relief when they arrived in the cabin. The camouflage that the shipyard made for these ships is really fake. The inside and outside of the cabin are completely different things. Although the exterior is dirty and shabby, the cabin is no different from other ships of the Admiralty, the same layout is reasonable, clean and tidy.

Li Qicong of the shipyard knew the importance of these sailboats, so he also came to Lushun with several ships, and he and the experts and technicians of the shipyard were closely observing the performance and number of the ships all the way.

After several days of sailing, the performance of several ships was relatively stable. After all, shipyard converted sailboats are no longer one or two, and a lot of experience has been accumulated.

When Qiao Haipeng and Song Tao saw Li Qicong, they walked over and chatted with him.

Li Qicong said to Song Tao and Qiao Haipeng: "I personally went to Luzon to pick these ships, and they are all Portuguese Galen ships. The Galen ship was a large warship invented by the Portuguese, and the British fast warships, Spanish galleons, and Portuguese Frut merchant ships of this era actually belonged to the category of Galen ships. Until the advent of steam ironclads, they belonged to the era of Galen ships.

However, there are still obvious differences in ship style and decoration style, and this difference is becoming more and more obvious with the progress of the times. For example, in order to reach Amsterdam, Dutch ships had to navigate the dangerous shallow waters of the Guò Shell Sea, so the large Dutch ships were compared to British, Portuguese and French ships. The draft is shallow and the hull is wider. So the Dutch galleons were slow, difficult to maneuver, and the weakest armed.

Although these Portuguese merchant ships are not as fast as the British fast merchant ships, they are larger and stronger than the British merchant ships, and their speed is much faster than that of the Dutch Frut merchant ships, and the handling performance is also good, and the performance in all aspects is relatively balanced. That's why I chose them as the object of the modification.

These ships are almost no different from other sailing ships in terms of refits. It's just a camouflage of a lot of improvements. For example, the rudder is arranged in the aft compartment.

After all, sailboats of all countries in this era still used bulky vertical tillers, which only worked in good weather, because the sudden and monstrous waves could take the helmsman out of his hands. The rudder did not appear until about 1705, and if the rudder of our ship was seen by sailors of various countries, this concept would be tantamount to a revolution for them.

We also kept more than two dozen gun windows, a dozen artillery pieces were only symbolically left, and the ammunition reserve was also very small. But the reinforcement of various parts of the hull. But it took a lot of effort. In order to ensure that the ship will withstand storms in the ocean in the future, key parts such as masts, sail booms, and hulls are reinforced with stronger steel plates. So that the boat's endurance can challenge even greater limits. ”

Song Tao patted the thick wood of the cabin and said with a smile: "There is a lot of asphalt smeared on the outside of the hull, and it looks like a ghost ship from a distance." ”

Li Qicong said with a smile: "A lot of wood in the hull has been replaced, and not only has asphalt been applied to it, but the primer of the hull has also been put into a lot of work. Don't worry, this ship will be in the sea for a few years. No problem. It's not okay to disguise it well, after all, it's not in the sea area controlled by the company, if Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain know that you are the fleet of the Far East, they will definitely take action against you.

By the way, the steam boiler power unit on the ship. We also chose the model that the company has been using for several years and has the most stable operation, which not only has a low failure rate, but also has a stable power output, so there is basically no need to worry. ”

Song Tao and Qiao Haipeng, as well as the captains of the ships and the heads of various departments of the fleet, listened to Li Qicong's words, and their hearts were a lot more steady, after all, they were about to sail away, and the performance of the sailboat they were riding on became particularly important.

With several sailboats in place, the work of the ocean-going exploration fleet was also ready. They will take advantage of the winter monsoon in Southeast Asia to sail to the New World. It will pass through the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope, and then along the west coast of Africa all the way north across the Atlantic Ocean to France.

The voyage will take several months, and you will face storms, pirates, and other unexpected situations along the way. Although Van Bit and some experienced Dutch sailors were included, the officers and men of the Admiralty had little experience in the voyage across the ocean.

When the ocean-going exploration fleet set sail, Gao Jianguo, Li Ming, and Qiao Haipeng of the Military Commission, Wang He, and other members of the Standing Committee of the Ethnic Affairs Committee all rushed to Lushun Military Port to see off the fleet. Gao Jianguo looked at Song Tao who was full of excitement, punched him hard, and said with a straight face: "Don't be sneering, you kid, I will hand over more than 1,000 people in the fleet to you, you must bring it back to me with all your beards and tails, don't do stupid things with a fucking hot head." ”

Qiao Haipeng also said in a deep voice: "These people from our Admiralty are all handed over to you kid, this is the elite selected by our Admiralty, they will accumulate enough experience in the voyage when they come back from this voyage, if something goes wrong, our Admiralty and you are not finished." ”

"The people of our Ethnic Affairs Committee will also rely on Commander Song to take care of them, you should tell them, I have already explained to them, and we must absolutely obey your orders."

Song Tao listened to everyone's earnest trust, and said with a bitter face: "Bosses, can I not go now?" When you guys do this, buddy feels so stressed. You'd better change someone else to be the commander, and I'll be a small soldier and charge into battle. ”

His words made everyone laugh. Li Ming also scolded with a smile: "What do you think of the resolution of the company's board of directors committee, this is the resolution of the organization, can you change it?" Besides, you jumped high to go at the beginning, and now you want to pick a pick, it's too late! Hurry up and get on the boat and get out. ”

Song Tao hurriedly stood upright, solemnly gave a military salute, and shouted loudly: "Report to the chiefs, the ocean exploration fleet is about to set sail, please instruct!" ”

Gao Jianguo returned a military salute, and then shouted: "Get out!" ”

Everyone laughed again, and Song Tao also shrank his head, turned around and fled. With the long and piercing whistle, the steam engines on several sailing ships began to roar violently, and the thick black smoke suddenly filled the sky above the port of Arthur.

Gao Jianguo looked at the several sailboats that were slowly leaving the dock, turned his head and smiled at everyone: "After so many years of preparation, we are finally going to take this step, great sailing!" ”

Qiao Haipeng was also very excited by Gao Jianguo's words, and he said solemnly: "In the future, as long as it is the sea, there will be merchant ships and warships in our Far East!" ”

The ocean-going exploration fleet will anchor in Luzon for a while, waiting for the winter monsoons to arrive. This is also the peak time for ships to leave Manila, and a large number of European merchant ships will leave Manila with goods and rush back to Europe, and the ocean exploration fleet will also leave Manila in their midst.

In the detention center in Manila, Lucien was still looking forward to the stars and the moon, looking forward to Albert's arrival. Since the last time Albert met him, he has not been seen again.

Although Albert said that he would have to wait for a while before the Far Eastern Company could decide whether to give him an answer, the two months of being in the cell still allowed him to live like a year. The wicked people in the cell were now bullying him every day, and he had resisted unbearably, but he was immediately beaten half to death by the prisoners in the same room.

What he hoped for most now was for Albert to appear in front of him, but Albert seemed to have disappeared and had not been heard from since. Just when he was on the verge of despair, one day he was brought out by the prison guards.

Lucien walked out of the dark cell, and his mood was extremely excited, and he could finally see the light of day.

But what made him strange was that the person who took him out of prison was not Albert, but a Chinese man in his thirties. When the other party saw him, he walked up with a smile, grabbed Lucien's hand and shook it a few times, and said with a smile in fluent French: "You are Mr. Lucien, my name is Zhou Billy." I'm late......"

Hearing the other party's words, Lucien's tears were about to fall, and he hurriedly said humbly: "Where, where...... It's good to be here, thank you for coming to pick me up from prison. ”

Billy Chow was ashamed and said: "Sir is suffering inside, Albert has already left Manila, he encountered something and can't rush back to Manila as scheduled, so he entrusted me to take you out, but my ship has encountered a storm, alas...... As a result, it has been delayed for so many days, so please forgive me.

Mr. may not have had a good time in Manila, but I happened to be fine these days, so I accompanied Mr. to go around Manila, and there are still many places worth visiting in Manila. ”

Billy Chow led Lucien into a jeep and left the Manila prison in the direction of Manila...... (To be continued......)

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