diymy Chapter 47 On the West Coast of America
Chapter 47 On the West Coast of America
February 3rd, the first year of the Hanchang era, Tianjin Port.
The Beiyang Fleet's North American immigrant formation was fully prepared and officially set sail after receiving orders from the Emperor.
The entire fleet consisted of thirty-eight ships.
Two main naval warships with a displacement of 40,000 shi (2560 tons).
Four secondary main warships with a displacement of 20,000 shi (1280 tons).
Sixteen large ocean-going armed transport ships with a displacement of 20,000 shi.
Eight medium-sized ocean-going armed transport ships with a displacement of 10,000 shi (640 tons).
Eight small, fast sailing ships with a displacement of 5,000 shi (320 tons), including two steam-powered sailing ships.
After a 20-day voyage, they arrived at the Vladivostok port on February 23.
The fleet made its final rest and resupply here.
On March 1, the fleet set sail again, heading east around Ezo Island, sailing with the North Pacific warm current and the westerly winds.
In the winter, the North Pacific Ocean is turbulent, but in the height of summer, the waves drop to their lowest point, allowing even a small sailboat to cross.
It was the transition from spring to summer, and the fleet broke through the churning waves, sailing eastward with the wind and current.
After a full forty days of sailing, around 9 a.m. on April 10, the lookout on the mast suddenly blew a cheerful whistle.
The boatswain at the bow immediately followed suit and blew his whistle, and soon the entire deck was filled with the sound of whistles.
The people on the ship had heard the explanation countless times and knew that when this whistle sounded, their destination was already close at hand.
Zhang Zongyu, who had been on the ship for forty days, immediately ran to the deck with several of his personal guards upon hearing the notice, and looked out at the horizon to the east with binoculars.
At this point, of course, nothing can be seen.
After waiting for another half hour, the silhouette of the hills finally came into view.
As time passed, the coastline drew closer, and the outline of the continent slowly began to emerge.
Another half hour later, the coastline was finally visible to the naked eye.
The sailors and passengers who were free on the ship came up to the deck and cheered as they looked at the coastline in the distance.
While people don't need to walk when traveling by boat, and the physical fatigue is far less than when traveling on land, the mental stress can increase if land is not visible for a long time.
The sailors who had adapted to this lifestyle were fine, but the ordinary militiamen found it very difficult.
Now that they had finally reached their destination and could finally see land, the militiamen on the ship felt a sense of relief and their spirits were lifted.
The imperial astronomers on board also recalibrated the current latitude and longitude, and then guided the fleet to turn north.
After sailing along the coastline for two hours, the fleet rounded a small peninsula that jutted outwards. Suddenly, the eastern coastline turned sharply inwards, and a wide bay appeared to the right.
This is the destination of the Beiyang Fleet's voyage, and Liu Yulong has named it the American Bay.
The South Bay is roughly shaped like a "┫". The horizontal part is called the outer bay, and the vertical part is called the inner bay. The modern cities of Vancouver and Seattle are located on the eastern side of the north and south arms of the South Bay, respectively.
After entering the Gulf of America, the fleet first turned northwest and sailed slowly to the northern coast of the bay, which is the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island, named by the British.
The fleet sailed slowly along the southern coastline of the island into the depths of the bay, arriving at the southeasternmost point of the huge island, the southern side of a small peninsula that stretches eastward, on the morning of the second day.
Several years later, the British were supposed to build a small fort on this peninsula, named after Queen Victoria, to control the entrance to the bay.
The Great Han Beiyang Fleet spun off a small fleet here, which docked on the south side of this small peninsula. The three hundred immigrants on board would disembark here and build a military settlement for the Great Han in the Americas.
For now, let's just call it "The First Village of the American Bay".
The remaining fleet continued eastward, and after reaching the deepest part of the bay, it split into two groups.
A portion of the ship carried 700 immigrant families southward to establish "Second Settlement" near the site of what would later become Seattle.
Another group of 1,000 immigrants sailed north to build the "Third Village" on the delta at the mouth of the Fred River, where Vancouver is now located.
Zhang Zongyu also went to the Third Village by boat and served as the "Third Village Thousand-Household Officer".
The Gulf of America is home to numerous islands and fjords, and the differences between land and sea make wind directions more complex and changeable.
At Liu Desheng's insistence, all warships of the Han Navy, as well as the vast majority of transport ships, did not adopt the soft sails of Europeans and continued to use traditional Chinese hard sails.
For the same weight, rigid sails have a slightly lower maximum draft and speed than soft sails, but they can adapt to various complex wind directions and are easier to operate than soft sails.
Once in this area filled with fjords and islands, most of the Han Navy's ships can continue to navigate autonomously, but their speed is naturally much slower.
The two fleets, having ventured deep into the bay, sailed slowly for more than three days before finally reaching their destination.
The Great Han Dynasty did not have a particularly accurate map of this area, and the destination that Liu Yulong circled on the map still covered an area of several tens of kilometers in radius.
Once the fleet entered this area, the large sailboats lowered their sails and glided slowly.
Small sailboats left the fleet to carefully explore the surrounding bays and waterways, while small boats transported elite militia scouts ashore to survey the land environment.
Find a suitable place to build a military settlement, and eliminate or drive away wild animals and savages in the surrounding area.
After another three days of investigation, the locations of the three military settlements were successively determined.
The large ship set sail again, trying to get as close as possible to the designated military settlement location, and used smaller boats to transport ordinary militiamen and supplies ashore.
They began cutting down trees to build docks, watchtowers, camps, houses, warehouses, and walls.
Normally, when building a house with wood, it's best to let it air dry before using it, but there's no time to do that now.
Before winter arrives this year, all immigrants need to be provided with shelter from the wind and rain.
Winters in Vancouver and Seattle are not particularly cold; temperatures typically do not drop below freezing, meaning they usually do not freeze.
However, the climate here has Mediterranean characteristics, with almost no rainfall in the summer and monthly rainfall in the winter being as much as in Henan in the summer.
This climate is suitable for winter wheat growth, but it is not very comfortable for people.
Exposure to cold rain causes a person to lose body heat rapidly.
The supplies sent by the Beiyang Fleet could not be left to be exposed to the wind, sun, and rain; they needed to be stored in a temporary place.
Besides various living and production tools, the most abundant items among these supplies were seeds and grains. The Governor's Office prepared enough rations for these immigrants to last for a year and a half.
Even if the crops fail to produce anything in the first year, the new military settlement will not collapse due to lack of food.
The first group of immigrants to the Americas prepared by the Han Dynasty consisted of four thousand men and women, all of whom were young and strong.
After the three military settlements were successively settled ashore, most of them stayed in the settlements to be responsible for land reclamation and construction.
The area of the three military settlements and the surrounding construction sites expanded rapidly, with various simple houses and necessary facilities spreading at a visible pace.
A small elite force was responsible for guard duty, patrols, reconnaissance, and combat.
This includes searching for nearby settlements of wild men, as well as possible British trading posts and settlements.
According to information gathered by Liu Yulong and the Great Han intelligence department, this area is currently a disputed territory between Britain and the United States.
The Hudson's Bay Company of Britain had dozens of active trading posts in the vicinity.
On the fifth day after the full-scale construction of the Second Village began, an exploration team discovered a British trading post.
Just 30 kilometers upstream from where the Third Village is located, there is a very simple earthen and wooden camp.
The camp's architecture has typical European features, and the courtyard is marked "Fort Langley."
The top is adorned with a typical British colonial flag, with the Union Jack of Britain in the upper left corner and the three capital letters HBC (Hudson's Bay Company) in the lower right corner.
The exploration team did not get too close to the camp; after confirming the general situation, they quickly returned to report.
After receiving the report, Zhang Zongyu pondered for a moment and then decided to personally lead three centurions to "visit" them.
The two sides were too close, and more importantly, they were located on the same riverbank.
The other party was a trading post, not an ordinary settlement.
Whether merchants were traveling to or leaving the trading post by boat, they would pass through the location of the third village.
Rather than waiting for the other party to come at you, it's better to use the guise of a visit to find out their true strength and weaknesses.
If, as the Emperor and the intelligence agencies have said, these outposts only have a few dozen or a hundred people, then we should go and take control of them directly.
The other party can be allowed to continue their previous business, but they must submit to the Han's jurisdiction.
Zhang Zongyu acted immediately, selecting three militia centurions, thirty of whom were veterans from the Imperial Guard.
The next morning, they set off in three sailboats and approached Langley Castle around noon.
These trading posts in the wilderness were sometimes attacked by the surrounding savages, so the people at the trading posts had to take turns going up the watchtower to observe and guard the surrounding situation.
When Zhang Zongyu's three sailing ships approached the trading post, John, the lookout for the day, was clearly taken aback when he saw the fleet and the "Han" character flag on the masts:
"What the hell! How come there are so many unfamiliar ships here! What country does this strange badge belong to?"
John, startled, immediately ran down the watchtower to inform Henry, the manager of the trading post.
Upon hearing that three large, unidentified sailing ships were approaching, Manager Henry immediately sounded the horn and ordered everyone to gather with their weapons and prepare for defensive operations.
In such a desolate place, the difference between a merchant and a robber is only a matter of a single thought.
Moreover, this area was originally only frequented by British and American merchants, and the presence of any other unknown forces here would mean enormous risks.
There are now only thirty-three people in Langleyburg, the vast majority of whom are Europeans, with a few natives.
These people were very surprised, but when faced with danger in such a place, preparing for battle was only natural.
The group quickly assembled and, following their usual method of defending against savage attacks, stood guard with their guns raised below the camp walls.
Zhang Zongyu's fleet anchored about 500 meters downstream from Langleyburg and let all the soldiers go ashore and line up.
When Henry, the manager of the trading post, and everyone below him saw three hundred soldiers appearing in the distance, they all cursed in utter astonishment:
"A generous gift—it was one hundred...two hundred, even three hundred soldiers—"