Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1567 - 1107: Needle Compass, Sailing, and Unexpected Events

"Bodhisattva! So you were using the ancient floating fish!... You heat the iron needle until it's red hot, then quickly cool it down, and it can float on the water in a bowl, roughly pointing south... This is quite an old method, but it's prone to inaccuracy..."

"Oh! You rely on the sun by day and the stars by night to guide your position at sea? And you also note the peaks and great rivers along the way, remembering the coastal shapes? This method is indeed often used... However, without precise compass navigation, you must stick close to the coast while sailing, not daring to venture too far out to sea, let alone into the open ocean..."

"What! You have a sea chart divined after a 'Great Shaman Divine Descent', allowing you to know the rough outline of the coast and the road ahead?!... Ah, my goodness! So your journey relies on divination, knowing what might appear in the seas ahead?!... Chief Divine! Is there really such a miraculous Divine Buddha? Such powerful mana from a Great Shaman?..."

"My lord!... You also recruit sailors and guides from wild tribes around? From local tribes, you inquire about the conditions of the waterways step by step, gradually moving towards the western coast... Bodhisattva! You really managed to sail twenty thousand li relying on Divine Buddha and tribes!!..."

To the north, the Alaska coast is faintly visible on the horizon, with those towering ridges serving as the most striking navigational markers for hundreds of li. A southwest wind is blowing across the wind-facing sails, relentlessly carrying the lone Ocean Shielding Ship eastward.

Strong southwest winds not only bring eastward forces but also occasionally tilt the entire sea ship northward. The three at the ship's side have long been accustomed to this level of jostling and wobbling. They slightly hunch, bend their legs, maintaining balance while loudly gesturing and conversing.

"Chief Divine bless! Park the sail maker, you're holding this compass, which is meant for pointing... So it has twenty-four divisions, which means there are twenty-four recorded directions?..."

"Yes... my lord! This is the twenty-four position water compass, also known as... oh! 'Single-needle Compass'. It records the direction, distance, detailed sea routes, ship speed, and hours, becoming the navigational route... 'Zi, Gui, Chou, Gen, Yin, Jia, Mao, Yi', 'Zi' is due north, 'Gen' is northeast, 'Mao' is due east. Our ship, currently heading east, but if you observe the bow carefully, it is actually between 'Gen' and 'Mao', approximately in the 'Jia' position... which means six parts east of north..."

"Calculating this position, we've already traveled... well, three hours today! Ah? You're asking how to confirm the time? Look at this twelve-hour sundial on the bow, it's moved three segments, meaning three hours..."

Sail maker Park Sun-pan carefully points to the twenty-four position compass in his hand, then to the sundial specially placed at the bow, and the direction stick indicating the bow's direction. That stick's pointing, corresponding with the compass, is indeed aimed at the 'Jia' position, which is east by north, around 75 degrees.

"Chief Divine bless! You record twenty-four angles when sailing? Ah! And also note the sailing time?..."

"My lord! Sailing at sea is inherently unpredictable with storms, nothing is reliable. If even the direction and time cannot be clearly determined... then where we will end up is completely unknown!"

Saying this, sail maker Park Sun-pan tugged at his hair, recalling the sights at sea, answering with feelings.

"The compass on our ship is just a simple twenty-four positions... some old 'Sea Masters' on Upper Country Ming ships use twin-needle compasses to record the route to South Ocean..."

"That kind of compass we've seen before, having forty-eight positions... And according to twin-needle compass notation, the current course is 'Jia' and 'Mao', at 'Jia-Mao' position (82.5 degrees)... Their ships have a flowing water clepsydra capable of knowing exact hours and quarters..." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Chief Divine! Park the sail maker, recording forty-eight navigation positions, clear to specific hours... you truly are, a tribe skilled in maritime navigation!..."

"Uh... my lord... you're saying... you're that... a celestial star descended! Even without any tools, you could smoothly sail out to sea. It's said even the Dragon King of the sea wouldn't dare to take you... No! My tongue is clumsy... You... You're... that one... A blessed person by nature!..."

At this point, sail maker Park Sun-pan gritted his teeth, slapped himself twice, repressing his disrespectful thoughts towards the masters. Then, he swallowed hard, and only then did he look again towards the amazed and curious 'Great Masters of the Two Classes', seemingly seeing these navigational tools for the first time.

"My lord! This wind is excellent at the moment! Very good indeed! In one hour, we can cover... forty to fifty li!..."

"Hmm? Park the shipwright, what did you say? How fast is this ship traveling presently?..."

"Uh, this... the speed of the ship... that... from here to here... a quarter is... an hour... which means... it's roughly... a little faster than when you first boarded, from the first island to the second island..."

Park Sun-pan, the sail maker, stuttered and gestured while explaining, and Watanabe followed up with translations. It took the two of them a full half hour before Scholar Mikki finally understood the ship's speed situation.

"Chief Divine! So, this sea ship of the Wind God can go even faster?!"

"Yes! Master! This ship, when heading east with an east wind against us, can only travel a little over ten li an hour. The days in the North Sea are exceptionally long in summer! ... We can travel five hours a day; against the wind for a day, we'd only cover fifty to sixty li. Previously, with a half south wind, it could cover thirty li in an hour. A day with a half wind is roughly one hundred fifty li!"

"As for now, this ship with a southwest wind covers forty to fifty li an hour, over two hundred li a day! And if it's a west wind, completely with the wind, it can go even faster! An hour can even cover sixty li, and with the wind for a day, it can cover three hundred li!..."

"Park, the shipwright, what did you say?! If it's completely with the wind, it can cover three hundred li a day?!... Chief Divine! This truly is a fast ship blessed by the Wind God!..."

Hearing this unbelievable ship speed, Scholar Mikki touched his nose, genuinely incredulous. This was almost three times the speed of the Kingdom's longships...

In fact, during this era of using sails, the Chinese ocean shielding ships, although limited in cargo, were extremely lightweight and stable, adept at harnessing wind power. Generally speaking, they sail against the wind at 2 knots, at half-wind at 4 knots, and fastest with the wind at 7 knots, making them a medium ship very suitable for coastal navigation.

The ocean shielding ship that everyone boarded left Divine Twins Smoke Harbor at the end of May from 158 degrees east and reached Divine Land Port at 163 degrees west in early July. This Chinese ocean shielding ship maintained a speed of 3-5 knots under a half wind, traversing the entire 39 longitudes, over five to six thousand li of the Aleutian Island Chain, all in a little more than a month, about forty days. And now that it turned from a half wind to a tailwind, the ship's speed became faster. To travel across over six thousand li of the Far North Coast, it would take only about a little more than a month...

"With the Chief Divine's blessing! By this calculation, if everything goes smoothly, we'll pass the entire Far North Coast and reach the northernmost end of the Western Sea Coast, the Kingdom's whale harbor, by early August! Upon reaching Whale Harbor, even if we don't find the third support fleet from the Kingdom, at least we could learn about the details of the support fleet from the resident Preaching Priest Zuyu!..."

At this thought, Scholar Mikki's emotions surged, his face brimming with eagerness, and his eyes sparkling with imaginative brilliance.

The Kingdom Ports on the Far North Coast had only been established for a year, having only a couple of hundred tribes. The ports had neither extra longships to accompany the ocean shielding ship eastward nor could they provide too much supply. Even the news from the Western Sea Coast was relayed just before it froze last year. Ultimately, the Far North Coast was too desolate, nearly devoid of any large tribes of a thousand people, far from comparing to the warm climate and numerous tribes of the Western Sea Coast.

Only by reaching the year-round navigable Western Sea Coast and encountering the Kingdom's support fleet would this ocean shielding ship, filled with the harvest from the Divine Revelation Continent, be truly secure in the Kingdom's hands! By that time, both he and Zuwaro's accomplishments in exploration would be genuinely safe and sound, their deeds transmitted within the Kingdom, recorded in the epics of Divine Revelation!...

"Shrine Priest! Grand Priest Miki! Something's wrong! Something's wrong!..."

Scholar Mikki was musing, yet suddenly, he heard a sound of frantic footsteps and an anxious shout with a Wa Country accent.

"Chief Divine witness! Something has happened! A big issue occurred!..."

"Hmm? What's wrong?! You're... horse breeder Ichiro? ... What happened?"

"Yes! Shrine Priest! I am just Ichiro the assistant..."

Ichiro, the horse breeder, was barefoot, draped in a fur robe, wearing a gold Sun Amulet, his weathered face filled with unease and fear. Then, with a "plop," he knelt heavily on the slanted deck, smelling of horse dung, bowing his head several times. The "thud, thud" sounds were as if he was using his forehead to break the deck. His voice was also filled with anxiety, even revealing a tone of fearful weeping.

"Shrine Priest! ... The horse... the big horse... that Jurchen stallion... something's wrong!..."