Ding Xinghao, who was next to him, nodded and said: "It's really a bit out of place to go south now, the fleet's reserves are relatively rich in addition to fresh water and food, and the coal is already insufficient, and now the monsoon has not changed, we can only rely on steam power to break through to the south, but now the coal reserves can't reach Madagascar at all." After two battles, 75mm ammunition was also consumed, and if we want to break out of the English Channel, I am afraid that we will have to go through several more fierce battles, so we can not risk any more. ”

Song Tao pointed to the east coast of the Americas on the map and said, "With our current coal reserves, can we sail to the east coast of the Americas?" ”

Ding Xinghao thought for a moment, then pointed to a location on the map and said: "After we rush out of the English Channel, we can go all the way west across the Atlantic Ocean and go directly to the south of Newfoundland, where we are about 2,000 nautical miles away, and our remaining fuel reserves are enough." One-third of Newfoundland is covered by coniferous forests, and the wood and paper industries are relatively developed in modern society.

The fleet could look for a suitable spot in the southern part of Newfoundland to serve as a site for fleet trimming. Once the ship was repaired, it was then searched south along the east coast of the Americas in search of coal supplies. In 1583, England declared Newfoundland a colony, but was never able to establish effective rule over it. Most of the people looking for the island to live on the island were Indians and Inuit. ”

Song Tao thought for a moment, and then said worriedly: "The current situation of our ships, will it be dangerous to cross the Atlantic?" ”

Li Shaojie smiled bitterly and said: "For now, only the east coast of the Americas is the safest, and Europe will definitely not be able to stay any longer." To the south, we will not have a chance unless we sail all the way over the Cape Verde Islands and off the coast of Guinea. However, the voyage was too long, and it was indispensable to entangle with Spanish and Portuguese merchant ships along the way. And Portugal has a lot of influence on the west coast of Africa. Heading north is simply not to be considered in this season. ”

Song Tao saw that everyone was more inclined to the west, so the fleet command made the decision to go west to the east coast of America. But now the first thing is to break out of the foggy English Channel.

The fleet continued to move at full speed in the English Channel, and two days later they used the fog zone, during which they experienced several more battles, but the intensity of the battles was significantly lower, and each wave of the enemy consisted of only a few sailing ships.

Two days later, the face finally broke out of the English Channel and into the Atlantic, leaving that damn fog area as well. And keep the steam engine at an economical speed of 3 knots.

The fleet entered the Atlantic, the number of ships intercepting them was significantly reduced, and after two battles, the rest of the journey began to calm down. The ships also had time to start repairing their sails and masts, and using the wind to assist navigation as much as possible, so that the speed gradually stabilized at about 6 knots. They are nearly 1,800 nautical miles from Newfoundland, and if nothing else, they will be at sea for about half a month before they reach their destination.

At this time, the fog in the English Channel had slowly faded, and the Dutch and British East India Companies mobilized almost all their ships in the vicinity, as well as a large number of sailing ships from Portugal and Spain, which almost filled the English Channel, but because of the heavy fog, they could not completely block the English Channel.

In addition, the ocean-going exploration fleet acted very decisively, and many sailing ships from Portugal and Spain rushed out before they arrived in the English Channel. In order to intercept the ocean-going exploration fleet, Spain and Portugal sent a lot of sailing ships to block the access to the Azores and Majiad Islands, but Baipi did not expect the ocean-going exploration fleet to go all the way west to Newfoundland in the Americas.

Fell, the senior merchant of the Dutch East India Company, and a group of Europeans also came to the English Channel in a sailboat, and a pile of white skins surrounded here for several days, but no shadow of the Far East Fleet was found.

Fell turned around and said regretfully to the delegates behind him: "Gentlemen, it seems that they escaped under the cover of the fog. We have to hurry up and prepare, we have a few ships rounding up, maybe they will be aware of our plans, and as soon as the monsoon changes, we will immediately set off for Manila in the East. ”

Newfoundland, meaning "New Discovery," is an Atlantic island off the east coast of mainland North America. It controls the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the west, the Belle Isle Strait to the north, the Cape Breton Island to the southwest, and the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to the south. It is slightly triangular in shape, with a peninsula in the northwest and southeast jutting out into the sea. It covers an area of 111,000 square kilometers.

Five battered sailboats slowly sailed into Concepson Bay on the Avalon Peninsula in the southeast of Newfoundland, and while crossing the Atlantic, Ding Xinghao's crow's beak was once again powerful, and they encountered a small storm. When the storm stopped, the hull of the Seeker was damaged, and the supplies had to be transferred to other ships, and then reluctantly abandoned the ship.

Concepson Bay is a very secluded bay with lush vegetation all around. The fleet found a beach with better hydrological conditions nearby, built a wharf for construction, and set up a temporary camp. Nearly a month was spent in tension, with all kinds of battles, storms at sea, and more than ten days of boring and long sailing, and the officers and men of the fleet were exhausted.

After landing, everyone was busy for a day, and then they went their separate ways. When the special combat team searched the area around the camp, they found that there was an Indian tribe nearby, and Liu Handong took a few team members to communicate with them. Fortunately, this Indian tribe is not domineering or warlike, but it is still relatively hostile to the arrival of the fleet.

It wasn't until they arrived at the fleet camp and found a few dilapidated sailboats that they understood why the fleet had come here, and they exchanged signs and made some trades, and the relationship with each other became much more harmonious.

The peaceful resolution of the tense relationship with the natives on the island also made Song Tao breathe a sigh of relief. Although the fleet is strong and does not fear the natives of the island, if it really wants to fight, it will become very troublesome. After all, it will take at least more than a month to repair the ship, and during this time, you can't prevent the sneak attacks of those natives every day, can you still slaughter the natives of the entire Newfoundland Island.

A few days later, all the officers and men of the fleet mobilized, went on a logging spree on the island, built scaffolding around the five sailboats, and then began the painstaking and lengthy restoration work. Luckily, there are tall trees on the island, which can replace the damaged masts and booms of several ships. Canvas, cables and rigging are well stocked.

The fleet also brought a lot of various tools and equipment, and more than a dozen technicians from the mechanical maintenance group of the Civil Affairs Committee took on the main maintenance work, and other officers and men of the fleet also helped to do some rough work. Several of the sailboats are in bad condition, and technicians from the mechanical maintenance team estimate that it will take more than two months to get them repaired. This is still in the case of smooth work, and if you encounter a little trouble, the time will increase. R1152