Chapter 3556
Chapter 3556
Chapter 3556
Although Roger did not expect to encounter powerful enemies during their exploration of the unowned southern continent, he was still not completely confident in the two brothers who were commanding such a large-scale operation for the first time. After repeated instructions, he let them go back to rest and say goodbye to their families.
After all, the mission they are going to carry out this time is not something they can return from in ten days or half a month.
The voyage from Xingdao to the Unowned Continent is quite long, almost equivalent to the distance between Xingdao and the Pearl River Estuary. A one-way trip takes about half a month.
In addition to exploring the route, the fleet must also build ports and colonial settlements in the local area to establish Hai Han’s rule over the region.
In this regard, the biggest competitor of the expeditionary fleet is not the Western colonists, but another fleet belonging to the Luzon region. If nothing unexpected happens, the expeditionary fleet of the Luzon region will also set out at the same time and head south to the unowned continent to carry out similar exploration missions.
Whoever settles in the Unowned Continent first will be more likely to gain more support from the Executive Committee and have the opportunity to lead the future development of the Unowned Continent.
Therefore, the two major regions of Xingdao and Luzon were extremely enthusiastic about this matter. They invested a lot of money and manpower to form a large-scale expedition fleet, ready to grab the first credit.
In terms of straight-line distance alone, the Luzon region is about one-third closer than the Sing Tao region, but Roger believes that this will not give the Luzon region much advantage, because between the Luzon region and the unowned continent are the Banda Sea and the Timor Sea, which are still controlled by the Spaniards.
If the Luzon Region wants to establish a safe and stable shipping route between its existing sphere of influence and the unowned continent, it will have to compete with the Spaniards again.
Although Xingdao is a little farther away, there are no areas controlled by hostile forces along the way, so the difficulty of establishing a route should be much easier than that of competitors.
The departure of the expeditionary fleet was a major event for the entire Sing Tao. The size of this fleet far exceeded the armed fleet organized during the previous attack on the northern tip of Malacca. In the short twenty years since the establishment of the Sing Tao region, its size was already second to none.
In order to ensure that everything went smoothly, Roger arranged more than thirty warships as the main force of the fleet, as well as more than ten troop transports carrying more than two thousand immigrants, and dozens of heavy cargo ships carrying large amounts of supplies.
There are more than ten merchant ships that volunteered to travel with the fleet, most of which are from major and powerful merchant shipping companies in Sing Tao Island.
Once Sing Tao opens new colonies and ports in the local area, these merchants who enter the area first will be able to seize the opportunity and occupy the local market at the first time, and the returns in the future will be considerable.
After the brothers Luo Shenghuai and Luo Shengding said goodbye to officials including Luo Jie and Tan Juren at the port, they boarded the ship and gave the order to set off.
Nearly 10,000 people rushed to the port to see them off and waved goodbye to their loved ones on the ship.
Most people, including the crew, actually did not know the destination of this expedition. Only from the previous preparations and the composition of the fleet, they could guess that the destination must be very far away from Star Island.
After leaving the port, the fleet headed south.
According to the planned route, the fleet's first leg of the voyage was to sail along the east coast of Sumatra to the Sunda Strait. This nearly 2,000-mile voyage was expected to take four days, and it would also pass through Bangka Island, which was controlled by Xingdao. Although the local population was small, it was one of Hai Han's most important tin mining areas in the South China Sea.
At the same time, Bangka Island also has tropical specialties such as rubber and pepper, which can generate considerable financial income for the Singapore Island authorities every year.
Six hundred miles south of Bangka Island, you will arrive at the Sunda Strait, one of the most important seaports in the South China Sea.
This strait, which is only 40 miles wide at its narrowest point, is one of the two main passages between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. Needless to say, the other passage is the Strait of Malacca, which is already in the palm of Hai Han’s hand.
The Dutch stronghold in the South China Sea, the city of Batavia, is not far from the east side of the Sunda Strait, so for the past half century or so, the Sunda Strait has been a sea area under the control of the Dutch East India Company.
It was also thanks to the important geographical location of the Sunda Strait that the Dutch developed the city of Batavia into one of the most important trading ports in the South China Sea in just a few decades.
Of course, the trade status of Batavia City is no longer as good as before, and its status as a regional trade center has long been replaced by Sing Tao, which came later.
In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, before the fleet set off, Roger had already sent a telegram to Sing Tao's office in Batavia to inform the Dutch that a large Hai Han fleet would be sailing south through the Sunda Strait in the near future.
However, even the civilian ships that had not received prior notice, when they encountered this huge fleet flying the Hai Han two-color flag in the Sunda Strait, they tactfully sailed to the nearshore waters and gave up the passage.
On the seventh day after departure, the expeditionary fleet passed the westernmost cape of Java Island, which also meant that the fleet had left the Sunda Strait and entered the second stage of the entire voyage.
The destination of this voyage is the west coastline of the Unowned Continent. However, in the 4,000-mile voyage between the starting point and the end point, there are almost no human settlements or islands for supplies, only endless sea.
This is also the most unpredictable part of the entire journey. During this period, how to confirm the correct course and avoid sea storms are both great challenges for the expedition fleet.
Fortunately, Roger had prepared detailed nautical charts and route plans for the fleet in advance, and the experienced navigator kept correcting the course. After ten days, the lookout on the flagship's mast finally saw the coastline of the continent through the telescope.
This news quickly spread throughout the fleet through flag signals, cheering up the people who had been drifting on the sea for more than half a month. Since the coastline has appeared ahead, it means that the destination is not far away.
When the fleet arrived at the coast, brothers Luo Shenghuai and Luo Shengding were the first to set foot on the land of an unfamiliar continent. After checking the map and confirming that the location where they landed was a cape on the west coast of the continent, the brothers decided to name this place "Xingjiao" as a commemorative symbol of the arrival of the Xingdao Expeditionary Fleet.
However, after the initial excitement of the people who landed later passed, they soon discovered that the environment here was not at all like the "paradise" declared by the immigration officer on the way. All they could see was reddish brown sand, and the only vegetation was some sparse low shrubs.
Someone bent down to check the soil under their feet. This dry soil seemed to have nothing to do with the word "fertile", and there were no large rivers to be seen.
Although the sea nearby can provide endless food, if the soil here is not suitable for growing food crops, it will not be a livable place for immigrants.