Chapter 444: Setting Sail

Under Qian Shuiting’s full coordination, all preparations were finally completed in early July. Their time was running out. According to historical records, the Manila galleon would arrive in Manila around July 20th. They had to reach the standby location around July 15th to search for the galleon’s whereabouts.

The ship’s maintenance was quickly completed. All non-essential equipment on the Feiyun that could be dismantled was removed, and unused cabins and equipment were sealed to free up more space for supplies.

The Feiyun also had many of the Qian brothers’ and Zhou Weisen’s guns and related equipment, which were also dismantled this time. The Planning Commission designated a warehouse to store everything. Qian Shuiting was also thinking about finding a proper place to store these things. After all, leaving them on the ship exposed to salt spray corrosion was quite damaging.

However, the General Office currently did not approve of elders building their own detached wooden houses. Storing these items in their apartments was both crowded and unsafe—the large amount of pyrotechnics alone was a headache.

“I have to find a way to get the General Office to make an exception…” Qian Shuiting pondered. Maybe I could get a mountain clubhouse in the name of the Feiyun Club?

The Feiyun’s diesel engine and various electronic equipment had been debugged and maintained and were deemed suitable for sea service. The Planning Commission also specially approved gasoline for the Feiyun’s use—all of it “Ji’s gasoline” fractionated from coal tar. Although Qian Shuiting was not very confident in this fuel, he had no other choice now.

As for the elders participating in the operation, Qian Shuiting insisted on going himself. The reason was that he was the project initiator and was very familiar with the Feiyun, so he could serve as its captain. In addition, he wanted Zhou Weisen to go as well. Although there was a sense of using this to gain credit for the Homestead Faction, the reasons were still very solid: Zhou Weisen was a guest shooting instructor for the Special Reconnaissance Team, proficient in tactics, and could lead the clean-up operation. Moreover, piloting the Feiyun was a specialized skill, and he was also Ms. Mendoza’s husband. Mendoza’s Spanish was also essential for this operation.

Besides the Zhou couple, there were Lü Yang and Lin Chuanqing—the latter also temporarily serving as the captain of the Nongchao. Finally, there was Sun Xiao, a representative from the Planning Commission, who would supervise, register, and inventory the spoils of war.

The chlorine gas cylinder was also quietly brought aboard the Nongchao one night. The cylinder was not fully pressurized—after all, it would be a long and bumpy journey at sea, and the age of the cylinder was also a bit worrying. The cylinder was wrapped in layers of soft material and placed in a well-sealed box, secured, with bags of quicklime placed around it. A dark cloth was placed at the mouth of the bottle as a leak indicator.

The box was secured in a separate cabin at the bottom of the ship, below the waterline where the temperature was lower. The cabin itself was also sealed.

“Don’t rush down when you open the hatch. First, check if the cloth has faded. Have a water hose ready at the hatch. If it really leaks, flood it with water,” said Xu Yingjie from the chemical industry department, who had delivered the chlorine cylinder. He then handed them a box. “These are the protective equipment.”

Besides the gas masks for the elders, the box contained gauze masks for poison gas protection, which could be soaked in an alkaline solution before use. There was also a batch of disposable goggles made of deerskin and glass sheets from the optical factory.

“Although I am very much in favor of this idea, I’m afraid it will be quite difficult to implement,” Xu Yingjie said. “Be extremely careful—especially with the wind direction.”

“Don’t worry.”

On the morning of July 4th, the formation set sail from Bopu Port. It was a clear and hot summer morning. The rising sun in the east turned all the sails red, like torches. Unlike the usual enthusiastic send-offs for naval expeditions, no ceremony was held for this operation. The four ships were grouped with a transport convoy heading to Sanya, making it look like a regular, escorted transport of coal and machinery. Only the elders would notice that all the members of the Executive Committee had discreetly come to the pier where the Feiyun was docked to see the formation off.

After the farewell from the Executive Committee and their families, the elders boarded the Feiyun and the other ships in turn. Wen Desi and the other Executive Committee members remained on the pier, talking.

“Old Qian, it’s one thing for you to insist on going. Be safe and come back soon. Don’t forget to send a telegram from each ship every day.”

“Don’t you worry, Old Xiao. Just wait for our silver,” Qian Shuiting said with a smile as he boarded the Feiyun, waving to them from the aft deck. Panpan was busy taking a freeze-frame shot of this leader-like pose with her telephoto lens.

The Feiyun did not fly any flag representing the status of an elder, including Qian Shuiting’s personal elder flag and the Executive Committee flag corresponding to his position. Only the blue and white naval flag fluttered.

With a long blast of the whistle, the ships began to raise their half-sails one by one, sailing out of the port with the gentle southeast wind. The Feiyun was the last to leave. Its beautiful white hull was dyed a magnificent gold by the morning glow. Qian Shuiting, still standing on the aft deck, his white naval uniform seemed to be bathed in a halo of light.

Not long after leaving the port and sailing alongside the barge fleet and escort ships, the formation began to raise its full sails. The four ships at the rear of the line pulled out and soon came alongside the escort convoy, hoisting the “goodbye” signal flag. The escort convoy responded with the “fair winds” signal flag.

“What a pity I wasn’t chosen for this mission. I’m an expert in chemical warfare!” Watching the formation, Xi Yazhou, who had recently come to Lingao to report and was on leave, couldn’t help but mutter to himself. But he didn’t have many regrets, because he had heard a rumor during his time in Lingao: he would soon be appointed as the Army Chief of Staff.

Soon, the special task force, with a speed of over 5 knots, surpassed the escort convoy and gradually disappeared below the western horizon.

“Maximum power, full speed ahead,” the flagship signaled. Each ship increased its boiler pressure, black smoke billowed from the funnels, and white water churned at the sterns.

“This is our first full-steam-powered formation voyage since the transmigration. We’ve set a new sailing record. From now on, our ship can fly the blue ribbon,” Wen Desi said to Qian Shuiting on the Feiyun.

Wen Desi was not participating in the operation. He was going to Sanya to “inspect the work” and was just catching a ride—the Feiyun was much more comfortable than an ordinary coal carrier.

The voyage around the western part of Hainan Island was smooth, with only one minor issue with the Nongchao’s boiler, but it was far from the infamous “bomb boiler.” The test of the Feiyun’s surface search radar was also very successful. In fact, after leaving the transport convoy behind by more than 20 nautical miles, they could still see their signal echoes on the radar.

Because of the time lost to boiler repairs and the fact that they did not rely entirely on steam power when sailing against the wind but instead practiced zigzagging formation sailing, the overall speed of the voyage was not as fast as expected. However, the journey from Bopu to Yulin Port in Sanya still took only 28 hours, with an average speed of 9 knots. They docked at Yulin Port the next day at noon. The formation took a short break, and the elder engineering personnel from Sanya immediately boarded the ships to inspect the power systems. The coal bunkers were filled with a large amount of smokeless coal from Hongji, which had been prepared on the pier.

The director of the Sanya Special Administrative Region, Wang Luobin, hosted a dinner for the elders of the formation at the Elder Club in Yalong Bay, as a welcome and farewell. Unfortunately, because of the long journey ahead, they could not drink rum, let alone the local specialty, high-proof arrack. They could only drink kvass.

After dinner, the elders all returned to their ships. Wang Luobin saw them off at the pier. Many years later, he could still recall that scene: “The moonlight was shimmering on the waves, and I could hear the faint sound of the song ‘The Young Sailor Rests His Head on the Waves’ coming from the ship. The singing was beautiful, but a little stiff. It must have been Ms. Mendoza singing.”

Zhou Weisen returned to the ship and inspected the systems in the engine room again. When he returned to his cabin, he was locked out by Mendoza. “Just wait a moment,” she said. So he had to wait. But it wasn’t long before the door opened, and Mendoza appeared before him in a pirate costume she had somehow pieced together. She wore a pair of sunglasses instead of an eyepatch, a tricorn hat with half a colorful peacock feather sticking out, and a tight-fitting top with a deep V-neck that revealed her skin, which had been tanned by the Hainan sun. A revolver and a small cutlass were stuck in her belt.

Zhou Weisen immediately felt his temples throbbing and the blood vessels below pounding. He couldn’t help but lick his slightly dry lips and murmur, “My god, my dear.”

While some were fighting a battle of three hundred rounds, Wang Luobin and Wen Desi were enjoying wine and conversation on the wooden platform of the Elder Club’s stilt house in the shallow waters of Yalong Bay. Speaking of old times, Wang Luobin couldn’t help but laugh and say, “Old Wen, robbing for silver is still faster than selling mirrors and porcelain!”

“Of course, from the first day we arrived in Guangzhou until now, we have come so far!” Wen Desi stood with his hands on his hips, facing the sea breeze, feeling refreshed and exhilarated. He said with a smile, “We’ll have a good long chat this time.”

“Why didn’t you go robbing with them?” Wang Luobin asked. “I remember you were also very interested in these things. Don’t you want to cosplay as a pirate?”

“Why would I go robbing?” Wen Zong smiled and said in a low voice, “A man of great wealth does not sit under the eaves. I, Old Wen, am now the Chairman of the Executive Committee. Going to the Philippine Sea in the summer, isn’t that just asking to fight a typhoon?”

After a day of rest, and after receiving the report from the engineering personnel that “the power systems are all normal,” the formation set sail again, leaving the port to the south and then heading east into the distance.