He is a businessman, no matter how rich he is, he is only a seventh-grade petty official, and he is not at the same level as a first-grade official like Tang He.
However, even with such a disparity in status, Tang He was very polite to Malu Ali. Even after the two of them left Yingtian Mansion and started sailing, the more they chatted, the more speculative they became. Malu Ali had already betrothed his two sisters to
Tanghe is a concubine.
Maru Ali knew that as long as he could establish a relationship between Tang and the Duke of the Ming Dynasty, any business in the future would be able to flow smoothly between the Ming Dynasty and the West.
"Don't you know whether Duan Gong is reliable or not?" Tang He knew that once he crossed the Strait of Malacca, he would be in a completely unfamiliar area.
Many city-states and island countries near the waters of the South China Sea know the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, or in other words, the strength of the Central Plains Dynasty, and they will obediently provide water and food.
Once they entered the Indian Ocean, according to the chart provided by Zhu Han, there were almost no islands that could provide supplies, and there was only one mohu marked with the word Duan Gong Bengal.
After Duan Gong fled from northern Myanmar to Bangladesh, he sent people to contact the Ming Dynasty by sea.
He offered tributes of local specialties and hostages from his location, and was canonized by Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty.
One of the more important goals of Tang He's voyage to the West this time was to send some military supplies to Duan Gong, and to test Duan Gong's reliability.
After all, if Duan Gong can be cultivated into a troublemaker, it will not only destabilize Yunnan behind Chen Youliang, but also provide a springboard for the Ming Dynasty to enter Tianzhu in the future.
"Firuz Shah of the Delhi Sultanate has always had the ambition to unify the entire India, so how could he tolerate a foreign invader occupying the prosperous Bengal? Therefore, Duan Gong's situation must be very unstable. Once the Ming Dynasty's fleet arrives,
You will definitely receive his sincere support and welcome." Maru Ali's analysis of the situation in the Indian mainland was very clear, which gave Tang He reassurance.
Because India has always been in a state of fragmentation in history, and they have no reliable historical data to record the past, when Zhu Han was formulating the navigation manual, even if he obtained a lot of information, he could not give a reliable description of the current situation in India.
, so at this time the role of Persian merchants such as Malu Ali became prominent.
This was also the purpose of Tang He's efforts to win over Maru Ali along the way. Although the Ming Dynasty's army had strong soldiers, horses, ships and artillery, it was still unfamiliar with the places on the Western soil.
We must make good use of leaders like Maru Ali and troublemakers like Duan Gong.
Tang He and Maru Ali were on the bow of the boat, admiring the sea scenery along the way and chatting about their next stop, India and Bangladesh.
suddenly.
Dotted traces of ships appeared on the sea ahead.
Moreover, these ships are getting faster and faster from far to near.
Maru Ali has been sailing in this sea area all year round, and with just visual inspection from a distance, he immediately saw that these ships were coming with bad intentions.
"General Tang is not good, I'm afraid the pirates are coming." Maru Ali exclaimed.
"Pirates? We have such a powerful fleet, how dare we use pirates to rob us?" Tang He couldn't believe his ears.
You must know that after Tang He set up the Ming fleet to enter Nanyang, all the countries and city-states, let alone pirates, treated them with respect and politeness. No one dared to be disrespectful to the Ming Dynasty's powerful fleet.
Why did these blind pirates appear just as we were about to leave the Strait of Malacca?
"Old Ma, don't make a mistake. Use my telescope to take a closer look." Tang He didn't believe it.
He really couldn't understand how many blind pirates would catch up with such a powerful fleet and die.
"The general is indeed a pirate, send people quickly to repel them!"
Through the telescope in Tanghe's hand, Maluari quickly saw that there were many arson boats among the ships that suddenly appeared.
This kind of arson boat is the most frequently used means of attack by the Tianfang cultists in the West.
All using light sails and hulls, they are almost irresistible and terrifying weapons in offshore waters.
Because the draft of these arson boats is very shallow, they sail very fast on the water.
As long as they are targeted, it is almost impossible for ordinary ships to escape pursuit.
These arson boats were filled with heavy fire oil provided by Western Tianfang believers. This heavy fire oil emerged from the black spring underground. After being ignited, even if it was poured with water, it could not extinguish the raging flames.
Any ship on the sea that is touched by them will be reduced to ashes soon.
"The arson ship, General, is a terrible arson ship!" There was a lot of trembling in Maru Ali's voice.
The pirates in the Western and Southern Oceans are basically composed of Tianfang believers, and the largest Tianfang religion city-state near Malacca is Uka City where they were stationed not long ago. Maru Ali has guessed that this time the so-called pirates' sneak attack must be related to
There is an inseparable connection with Suleiman III, the lord of Uqa City.
They had deliberately planned to ambush him, and even used these terrible arson boats. Maru Ali felt that he was really in danger this time.
However, it was obvious that Maru Ali's words did not panic Tang He at all.
"They're just some pirates. Even if there are any arson ships, they're useless in front of our cannons." Tang He waved his hand and ordered the sailors nearby to send out flag orders and let the surrounding warships prepare.
Battle preparation.
At this time, I saw many ships emerging on the sea ahead.
There were almost two to three hundred ships, completely blocking the navigation channel ahead.
Not only that, many light boats also emerged from the mire and swamps on both sides of the river.
Thousands of ships from four directions, front, rear, left and right, almost surrounded the Ming army.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Although Maru Ali has seen the power and wealth of the Ming Dynasty, he also knows that the ships of the Ming army are almost invincible on the seas of East Asia.
But this is Nanyang after all, and the most powerful navy is still controlled by the Tianfang cultists, and the size of the ships used by these pirates is now almost 10 times that of the Ming army.
Maru Ali had never seen the power of the Ming Dynasty's navy with his own eyes, so he always felt that this time it might be a disaster.
Even if these pirates can be repelled, they will still suffer serious losses.
Malu Ali's accompanying merchant ships were loaded with priceless goods such as silk, tea, porcelain, etc. Any loss would be unacceptable to him.
After hearing the general Tang He's order to prepare for a counterattack, Maru Ali immediately advised him from the side.
"General, don't worry, why don't we send someone to negotiate with them first!"
"Negotiation? How can my dignified Ming army negotiate with these pirates?" Tang He refused the proposal of negotiation without hesitation.
"The generals and others have terrible arson ships. Once these ships burn, raging fires will ignite even on the sea. They will not stop until all the ships are burned down!" Maru Ali began to ask Tang He.
Describe the horror of setting a ship on fire.
Unexpectedly, Tang He didn't feel any panic or fear after hearing this.
Not only that, Tang He smiled slightly and explained to Maru Ali: "Old Ma, I know all what you said, and there is nothing strange about it. His Royal Highness once told me that during the Song Dynasty,
Shen Kuo once recorded that the oil in northern Shaanxi also burned with black smoke, and ordinary water and soil could not extinguish it. I am afraid that these arson ships were carrying this kind of stuff."
For Tang He and these big bosses, under Zhu Han's suggestion, Zhu Yuanzhang did not relax at all in training and improving these princes and generals. Popular science books like Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" were naturally learned by them.
It is transparent, after all, the vivid graphics and texts inside are very helpful in improving the cognitive level of ordinary people.
"General, you know such a terrifying weapon, why aren't you afraid that they will set fire to our ships?" Maru Ali was already extremely confused.
Logically speaking, Tang He knew that the arson ship used a secret weapon like oil, and naturally knew the terrifying nature of this weapon. Logically speaking, Tang He should agree to his proposal to negotiate with the pirates.
"Although this kind of arson boat is scary, it will be fine as long as we don't let them get close!" Tang He said confidently.
"How can we prevent them from getting closer? These ships sail very fast." Maru Ali said, pointing to the arson ships in the distance that began to spread their sails.
At this time, there was already a slight westerly wind in the strait. As long as the sails on the arsonist ship were supported, they could immediately launch a suicide attack on the Ming army's warships.
Tang He smiled coldly, "My Ming Dynasty ships have strong guns and cannons. We only need to use artillery to smash these arson ships from a distance to prevent them from getting close! No matter how powerful they are, they will not hurt our ships."
Not even a cent!”
Maru Ali had only heard of the Ming Dynasty artillery, which was extremely powerful, but he had never seen the specific accuracy and power with his own eyes.
Now that Tang He can be so calm, Malu Ali can't help but feel calmer.
Under the command of Tang He, the Ming army quickly launched a defensive formation.
A large number of warships formed a line outside, and all the ships used their sides on the deck and their artillery to aim at the pirate ships outside.
Because all the destructive power of these new warships comes from the artillery on the side of the deck, it is best to use the weak side to aim at the pirate ship to take advantage of the artillery.
But for those pirates, they felt that these Ming warships were already scared out of their wits.
Because in the impression of pirates, although their naval warfare weapons include scorpion crossbows and slings on the ship, there are only two weapons that play a decisive role in naval battles. One is hand-to-hand combat, and the other is
It's the sharp collision angle directly ahead on the battleship.
Right in front of each pirate warship, there is a sharp collision angle wrapped in bronze.
When the warship sails at its highest speed, these sharp bronze collision angles can carve a huge hole in the enemy's warship.
As long as the hull is damaged, the surging water will destroy these poor ships.
Suleiman III and the surrounding pirate leaders had already made predictions.
They felt that when the Ming army saw such a powerful pirate fleet, they would definitely send people to negotiate for peace.
At that time, the pirates would first pretend to agree to the negotiation to let the Ming army relax their vigilance, and then use arson ships and warships to destroy all the Ming army's warships, seize the remaining cargo ships, and minimize their own casualties.
After all, Suleiman III had seen the sophisticated equipment of the Ming navy soldiers in Uka City. Once the Ming army escaped the attack of the arson ship, the subsequent hand-to-hand combat would definitely cause a lot of casualties to the pirates.
.
However, the Ming army's subsequent reaction was beyond everyone's expectations. They did not send anyone to negotiate, but instead set up a defensive formation.
"By God, these stupid Ming people are preparing to die here."
Seeing this, Suleiman III couldn't help but reveal a ferocious smile.
Since they could not carry out their conspiracy, Suleiman III and a group of pirates decided to show their cruelty to the fullest.
The city of Uqa where Suleiman III is located and these pirates believe in Tianfang religion.
According to their teachings, robbing the property of infidels and killing them is as natural as harvesting crops from the field.
"Give the order for the arson ship to start attacking."
As the leader of this group of pirate leaders, Suleiman III issued the order to fight.
According to the estimates of Suleiman III and the pirates, the Ming army ships in front of them did not understand the key points of naval battles at all. They dared to expose the fragile sides of their hulls to the pirates' arson and ramming ships. So what awaits them
There is only failure and death.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Kill!"
"The true God is great!"
"Ara'u Akbar!"
With shouts and shouts, dozens of the pirates' arson boats were released by the wind and rushed towards the battleships in front of the Ming army.
These arson boats are very thin and fragile.
As long as it collides with the Ming army's warship, it will inevitably be scattered into pieces. At that time, the kerosene in the arson ship will leak out and ignite the Ming army's warship.
As dozens of arson boats with billowing black smoke were released, Suleiman III and a group of pirates drove the boats from behind and slowly approached.
They knew the power of the arson boat, so they had to keep themselves at a safe distance.
Seeing dozens of arson boats rushing towards him, Tang He immediately ordered the battleships in the front row to snipe these small boats with artillery.
"Heavy shotgun!"
"Load, heavy shotgun!"
As a burst of orders were issued, a flurry of commands immediately sounded from the Ming army battleship in front.
When Zhu Han was building the navy of the Ming Dynasty, he was already familiar with naval warfare techniques from all over the world, and he had made corresponding checks and balances.
Among them, the arson boats often used by Tianfang cultists are also what the Ming Navy officers often need to deal with in exercises.
To deal with such a thin and fragile arson boat, powerful projectiles are not needed.
Just heavy shotguns, which are slightly larger than ordinary shotguns, can smash these arson ships to pieces at a very safe distance.
"fire!"
"fire!"
…
As the order sounded on the Ming warships, dozens of artillery pieces let out terrifying roars.
"Boom boom boom!"
"Boom boom boom!"
The continuous sound of cannons was like the roar of thunder, which stunned the pirates in the distance.
The Ming army's artillery was not only powerful, but its power was even more jaw-dropping.
I saw that the artillery on the Ming warships only fired one round, and almost 90% of the arson ships were destroyed. The explosive kerosene raged on the sea. Because no attachment was found, the kerosene quickly fell apart under the wash of the waves.
, posing no threat to the Ming army's warships at all.