July 3, 1699, Cedar Fort, sunny.

Wei Chengwu was wearing a pair of whale leather overshoes, standing in a mud pit full of water, holding a hammer in his hand, and knocking on the shell of a ship. The whale leather shoes were made of back, with a little cold stuff inside, which was very warm to wear. And even in the cold winter weather, this kind of shoes did not crack or deform, and it was really the best shoe-making material in bitter and cold places.

The ship they were repairing was the naval transport ship "Baiyang", a three-masted sailboat with a displacement of more than 500 tons, which was rented out by the Taiwan Bank and then distributed to the "Northern Kanchakaga and Aleutian Expedition Expedition Team" led by Wei Chengwu. There were more than 30 naval officers and soldiers on the ship, and they are now seconded to serve in the Taiwan Bank.

Of course, not only the navy was seconded by the Taiwan Bank. In this expedition team, there were more than 300 reserve garrison soldiers from Sakhalin Island and the Hokkien counties, as well as 300 Mongolian cavalry from the Manchuria and Mongolian pioneer team (arrived last year). These soldiers are now organized into the Aleutian Advance Detachment, stationed in the bitter and cold land of Cedar Fort.

Today, Cedar Fort has a total of 600 soldiers, nearly 100 sailors (including naval officers and soldiers), more than 150 mineralogists, zoology and botanists, doctors, veterinarians, grooms, kids, chefs, guards, Taiwanese bank staff, repair craftsmen and other talents, and the total number is quite large.

Before the winter of 1697, the Cedar Fort was roughly built to help the first group of landing personnel survive the harsh winter of Aleutian. By the summer of 1698, the landing personnel used the wood and other building materials they transported and spent five months to repair it. Now it is a fortress with a circumference of more than 500 meters. More than 20 artillery pieces were installed on the top of the city, and some fortifications were built outside the city wall. With the ammunition and food that had just been replenished, it was already a solid and impoverished place. Of course, it was only in this sparsely populated Aleutian land. It was placed elsewhere. Such a rough and narrow fortress was ridiculous.

In 1698, because the construction of forts and dry docks (used to spend the winter for ships), the number of people going out for adventure was seriously insufficient, and only one expedition was hurriedly stopped by sea and land. Among them, there were not many people on land exploration, and led by a lieutenant, they advanced along a river in front of the fort, while inspecting, drawing maps, collecting specimens, and finally returning to the station before winter came.

The sea adventure was led by Captain Wei Chengwu himself. They operated the 20-horsepower all-steam steel clutch and sailed along the coastline, measuring the water depth while drawing maps. There was no doubt that this was a arduous and tedious task, and their large number of men were used to build forts and docks, and the work was not completed until winter came. Therefore, in the summer of this year (1699), with the arrival of another 20-horsepower steel clutch, Captain Wei Chengwu felt that this matter could not be delayed, so he sent two trusted confidant officers to lead them to take the two steel clutchs to explore in different directions and draw maps.

As for him, he stayed in Cedar Fort to handle other affairs. With the steel Clippers, map surveying and mapping will become more efficient. He no longer needs to take action himself. It is better to stay in Cedar Fort to handle daily affairs. The so-called daily affairs are actually very simple, including but not limited to training soldiers, fishing and drying nets, repairing ships, etc. Of course, the most important thing is to organize a new adventure and sea adventure as soon as possible!

He had some guesses about their current location. After all, latitude can be measured by itself. Although there is no longitude for precise positioning (they have been trekking on the sea and using time to measure longitude is no longer reliable), but near 59 degrees north latitude, he knew that he was on a piece of land - it is obvious that their current location is not an island - the west coast, and the positioning is generally possible. After all, he has a map on hand that only he and several captains and sailors can read. If you compare it, you will basically know it. What you need to do now is to survey the water depth, terrain and vegetation near the coastline, draw a more accurate map, and prepare for deeper exploration in the future.

Wei Chengwu is now repairing ships with ordinary craftsmen. There are only a few hundred people in Cedar Fort, and life is hard, and everyone has to become a versatile person. Wei Chengwu thought that as a leader, he must play a role model, so he occasionally appears in various labor places to undertake some work. For example, a few days ago, he handled the salmon and seals caught with his subordinates, and today he came to repair the "Popular" again, which has indeed increased a little morale to some extent.

According to the plan obtained when contacting last year, if it goes well, a merchant ship full of flour, spirits, drugs and cold-resistant materials will come to replenish the inventory of Cedar Fort. They have not grown food yet - in fact, they cannot grow it - except fishing, hunting and collecting food, all the food is shipped to transport it across the strait. After the food ship arrived, the inventory was almost sufficient, and they can do some more important things next.

He calculated the resources at hand. The personnel and materials were not counted. The most important thing was transportation. Not to mention the means of land transportation, but only two hundred healthy horses (some sick horses have been slaughtered and pickled as grain reserves), as well as some sleds made after coming here, which is actually not a big deal. Exploring in this ghost place is mainly based on boats, big ships, and small boats!

There are only two large ships now, one is a leased naval transport ship "Bai Poplar", which is about 500 tons, and is currently under maintenance; the other is the 250-ton transport ship "Chukochi", with the property rights of the Taiwan Bank. It is currently anchored in the river port and can set off at any time. In addition, there are two more important ships, namely the steel clutch. This ship is very small tonnage, and can only sit for thirty or forty people, carrying very little baggage, but the hull is made of steel and is fully steam-powered, with low speed and not deep draft. It is a magic weapon for offshore exploration, although deep-sea navigation is not very convenient.

Next, Wei Chengwu planned to lead the team himself, take the Chukochi armed transport ship, head to the eastern continent, and find a suitable location to establish a winter camp, so as to build a more stable stronghold after the spring of the year. The Cedar Fort (located in the town of Dillingham, Alaska) was really not convenient. If it weren't for a sudden storm and time wouldn't allow them to find a new destination, they wouldn't have chosen this river port as their first stronghold on the American continent.

Unfortunately, there is no if in the world. The reality is that they have wasted the entire voyage in Cedar Fort. Now it is the voyage in 1699. Time is precious and there can be no waste. Moreover, Wei Chengwu was a little worried that Cedar Fort is no longer safe. This is not groundless! In fact, the all-steel clutch "Cicada" who went out to survey and map the hydrological conditions of the coastline last year has discovered that there are some fishing boats near the Aleutian Islands, and some islands even have towns or winter camps. Looking at the style of those fishing boats and towns, they do not look like the technology that countries with very low civilization levels can have. What does this mean? It shows that the top secret information of the State Intelligence Administration is correct. There is a civilized country in the northwest corner of the American continent!

This discovery made Wei Chengwu very uneasy. He didn't know how big this country was, how many people were, and whether the military strength was strong or not. But he couldn't afford to bet! If the country's naval strength was very strong - no, it didn't need to be too strong, and only a few reasonable warships could be used to bombard their weak transport ships with weak military equipment - that would be enough to pose a great threat to their lonely expedition team. In that way, even if they could escape, the expedition mission would undoubtedly fail, which was very worthless. Therefore, how to secretly bypass the fishing boats or naval patrol ships of this country, and unconsciously enter the continent over there without knowing it, and establish a solid stronghold is actually a very test of people.

Wei Chengwu thought that this matter cannot be mobilized. The best way is to use the "Chukochi", a small ship, to carry some personnel and materials. Even if it can only build a winter camp, it is good, at least the goal is small and not easy to be discovered. The best choice of a winter camp is to be like Cedar Fort, a river port that penetrates deep inland. In fact, it must be a hidden harbor hidden under complex terrain (such as island groups or winding waterways). In short, safety is the first priority.

The only worry is that I don’t know where the unknown country has developed in Northwest America. If their development near the coastline is already very deep, it is very likely that the entire Gulf of Alaska from the Aleutian Islands south of the Gulf of Alaska is very rich in fishery resources, with shrimp, crab and salmon yields very large, just like the Sea of ​​Okhotsk opposite it, with many ports, so if they pass by so rashly and are unlucky, it is highly likely that they will be hit by others. In fact, Wei Chengwu is now wondering whether the Cedar Fort has been discovered by others, but the other party will not send it.

However, this is also impossible. The tasks assigned by the superiors must be completed! The Blackwater Management Committee and the Taiwan Bank have devoted a lot of effort and money to this. If they cannot come up with a satisfactory answer, they can imagine what kind of trouble he will encounter in the future. There has been news that Mr. Wei’s military rank is expected to be mentioned upwards, and he has always dreamed of going from a captain to a major. However, the Army Department has always been clear about rewards and punishments. If he has not achieved any results, then he will work hard as a captain, and it is impossible to even go back to sit on the bench, which is something he is unwilling to face.

"You must investigate everything in this country!" Wei Chengwu, who put the hammer aside and lit the pipe, thought to himself: "Success and failure are here! You set out in late July, and you can't delay it anymore!"
Chapter completed!