Chapter 600: Goa Sea Defeats the Arabian Pirates

While Jighar and Leon were negotiating at the left cape fortress of Goa Port, Yu Dayou led the main force of the Suzaku Navy and sailed north, less than a day’s journey from Goa Port.

In the afternoon, the sun was setting in the west and a strong wind was blowing from the northeast. The sails of more than 200 warships were tilted to the left, absorbing the wind and driving the ships like galloping horses, riding the waves on the sea.

On the stern deck of the B-class battleship Ningbo, several missionaries from the Propaganda Department were sitting there with musical instruments in their hands. On the left were the pipa and sanxian, and on the right were the dongxiao and erxian. The sound of the strings was intermittent in the sea breeze, like a piece of white silk floating in the wind.

Yu Dayou, dressed in casual clothes, stood in the middle with a clapper in his hand and sang loudly.

“I have been wronged until now. I have never been able to see you. I hate the evil thief Yanshou for taking me home and tearing me apart.”

One of the characteristics of Nanyin is that performers and singers can freely create secondary works based on the basic melody.

Yu Dayou sang the song “Dangerous Mountains” with his powerful voice, making it full of ups and downs and sonorous and powerful.

The officers and sailors gathered on the deck listened attentively.

People from southern Fujian and northern Guangdong who could understand this southern music applauded loudly. People from other regions who could not understand it also followed suit.

After Yu Dayou finished singing, he pointed at the group of officers who were shouting the loudest and asked, “Damn it, do you understand what I’m singing?”

An officer replied with a smile: “I just heard the Marshal singing soft, soft, it’s very strange, when did our Marshal become soft?”

There was laughter on the deck.

Yu Dayou rushed down, kicked him, and cursed with a smile: “Sai Linmu, how dare you make fun of me!”

The officer who was kicked but only had a shoe print on his face replied in a pretentious manner: “I know I was wrong. The Marshal is tall and strong!”

Everyone laughed even more happily.

Jose watched from the stern deck and listened to the hearty laughter. He felt that his mood was as vast and boundless as the azure sky and the blue sea, and as light and carefree as a flying seabird.

“Report!”

A voice suddenly rang out from the mast, “The outpost reported that we have intercepted two Arab merchant ships, coming out of the port of Goa.”

Yu Dayou threw the decision board to the missionary staff, “Send a signal and ask the outpost to bring the person in charge of the merchant ship over. I want to ask about the situation in Goa Port.”

He turned to Jose and said, “It’s a blessing. I was just wondering how to find out about the current situation of Goa Port, but I didn’t expect someone to come to my door.”

Soon, four Arabs were sent over by the communication ship, including two captains A and B, and two Chamber of Commerce managers C and D.

Yu Dayou interrogated them on the stern deck.

“Where are you going?”

The interpreter translated Yu Dayou’s question, and the four looked at each other. Captain A replied, “My lord, my ship is going to Colombo Port.”

Captain B replied, “My ship is going to Chittagong.”

“Well, Colombo Port and Chittagong, where are we going and what are we going to do?”

Captains A and B turned their eyes to the two managers C and D.

You are the representatives of the ship owner, responsible for purchasing and selling goods, so please speak.

Manager C replied, “In reply to your Excellency’s request, we will go to Colombo Port to import a batch of gemstones and ambergris, and then find out whether the trade route to Malacca Port in the east is open.

We have a lot of frankincense and sandalwood on board, and we want to ship them to Ming Dynasty to sell them.”

Yu Dayou said, “The trade route to the east is open, you can go directly to Longkou Port. The Malacca Strait was reopened last month. Didn’t anyone notify you?”

“No. We heard that the Portuguese governor led a fleet over there, and the fighting was so fierce that we didn’t dare to get close.”

“Well,” Yu Dayou nodded and pointed at Manager Ding, “It’s your turn now. Tell me, what are you going to do in Chittagong?”

“In reply to the Marshal, we have bought some salt, pepper, cotton and other sundries in Diu and Surat, and we want to ship them to Chittagong to sell. We will also go to Chittagong to inquire about the news, as the news there is the most up-to-date.

If the sea route to Malacca is still not open, we can harvest some rice in Chittagong and bring it back.”

“Will you take the rice back from Chittagong? Haha! Is the rice in Chittagong inlaid with gold or jade? You want to go to Chittagong to take back some pirates’ stolen goods, right?

No need to go, Chittagong, and most of the pirates in the Pagan Sea were burned by me, and they went to the West to see the Tathagata. “

At this point, Yu Dayou remembered and turned to the deputy general and said, “This place is close to the Western Paradise of India. The souls of those dead ghosts in Chittagong will float over with the wind. It’s not difficult.”

The deputy general suppressed his laughter and agreed, “The Marshal is right.”

Captains A and B, and stewards C and D were shocked by what the interpreter said. Chittagong was burned down, and pirates on more than 200 ships were buried with them.

The Ming people were really cruel.

The four of them couldn’t help but wonder in their hearts, wondering if they had said something wrong just now. These Ming people looked quite kind, so why did they sound so cruel?

Never dare to offend them.

Yu Dayou continued to ask: “Are you all from Goa Port?”

The four answered almost in unison: “Yes, we escaped from Goa Port.”

“Escaped?” Yu Dayou raised his left eyebrow slightly and asked calmly, “Tell me, what is the situation in Goa Port now?”

The four of them talked at once, discussing the situation.

Hussein gathered a large number of Arab warships, launched a surprise attack, and blocked the sea off the port of Goa.

There were only two small warships in the port of Goa, which were vulnerable.

There were more than 3,000 soldiers in the castle and fortress, with many muskets and cannons. In particular, the fortress on the left cape guarded the entrance and exit of Goa Harbor. The Arab fleet did not dare to rush in easily and sent envoys to negotiate with the Portuguese.

It is not known what they talked about specifically, but when the two ships came out, the sea was calm and there was no fighting.

“How many ships are there?”

Yu Dayou casually asked about the strength of the Arab fleet, how many ships there were, how many large ships, how many small ships, how many ships of various types, how many sailors there were, how many cannons there were, and he asked in great detail.

Fortunately, the two captains and two managers were very familiar with the ships of the Arab forces on this sea. They counted the number of ships and found that there were about 300 ships.

The number of large ships and small ships depends entirely on estimation.

They knew what the various types of ships were like, how many sailors they could carry, and how many guns they could be equipped with, and they could tell them off the top of their heads.

The staff officer writing beside him was busy writing down all the information.

“Are all these Arab fleets your imperial court’s navy?”

“The imperial court’s regular navy?” The four of them were stunned for a moment, and after listening to the explanation from the interpreter, they suddenly realized.

Is it the Ottoman Sultan’s navy?
no!
The four of them explained that the core area of ​​the Ottoman Sultanate’s rule was in Asia Minor, including Syria, Egypt and other eastern Mediterranean regions.

The navy of the Ottoman Sultanate, that is, the regular navy, was mostly deployed in the eastern Mediterranean and part of the Red Sea, but it would not easily leave the Gulf of Aden, as it would be easy to be attacked if it did.

As for Oman and the Arab region, including the southern Mesopotamian region of Basra, since they were conquered not long ago, they nominally had a governor, but were actually still ruled by local tribal chiefs.

So in this area, there was no Ottoman navy.

Especially in the Battle of the Gulf of Oman in 1554, the Ottoman Red Sea Fleet was defeated by the Portuguese, and completely gave up its control of the vast sea area from Aden to Oman, to the Persian Gulf and the west coast of India.

After listening to the four people’s explanation, Yu Dayou asked again: “Then is the Arab fleet outside Goa Port a merchant fleet or a pirate fleet?”

Yes, merchant ships should do business honestly. Who would form a group and attack someone else’s house when the fleet is not at home?
Is this a legitimate merchant fleet?

If it’s not a merchant fleet, then it must be a pirate fleet!

Captains A and B and stewards C and D looked at each other.

This is really hard to explain.

Since the Ottoman Navy gave up its control of the sea, the control of the vast sea area from Oman to the Persian Gulf and then to the west coast of India nominally belonged to the Portuguese.

But Portugal had so many people and ships in India that it could only defend a few major strongholds such as Goa, and then have its warships patrol the ports of these strongholds, leaving most of the sea areas empty.

Without strong power to suppress, the law of the jungle will apply.

The Arab merchant ships sailing in this sea area are normally merchant ships, but if they are seen as lone ships, they will suddenly become pirate ships.

In addition, this sea area is also densely populated with pirates.

These pirates have close ties with the chieftains of Arabia, Oman, Basra, Persia and India. Some are directly raised by the chieftains or chieftains to attack opponents and protect their own interests.

There are more than 300 ships in the sea off the coast of Goa, of which about 200 are pirates of various groups, all of which are well-known on the sea. Their sphere of influence stretches from Mogadishu in East Africa to the Gilgit Sultanate in India.

There are more than a hundred ships, which are nominally merchant ships, but most of them have also played the role of pirates, not to mention the eldest brother.

After listening to the four people’s explanation, Yu Dayou’s eyes lit up, he patted the armrest of the chair and spoke loudly.

“Since it is not the regular navy of the Arab Empire, we don’t need to go through all the red tape and etiquette. We should send envoys to declare war and conduct a national war in an open and aboveboard manner.

Pirate thief, no need to be polite!

No matter which country the pirates are from, as long as I encounter them, there is only one word for me: beat them! Beat them to death!”

Yu Dayou stood up suddenly, and the other generals and officers immediately stood at attention, waiting for his orders.

“Pass the order, all troops, slow down. I’ll requisition the two captured Arab merchant ships, replace them with our men, and quietly go around to investigate and verify the enemy situation.”

“Follow the order!”

By dusk, the two requisitioned Arab merchant ships returned.

The reconnaissance team supervised the sailors of the original ship, maneuvered the ship, and observed from a distance on the periphery.

During the trip, we encountered two ships patrolling the periphery. We communicated with them in Arabic from a distance. They did not suspect anything and turned back.

“Marshal, the situation is true. About 300 ships have dropped anchor and are anchored in the northwest of the sea off Goa Harbor, with a radius of about 20 kilometers. They are about 50 kilometers away from our front.”

We have initially counted large Arab sailboats.”

The reconnaissance team reported the situation in detail.

“We are heading northwest along the coastline, heading southeast, and the wind direction is changing from southeast to northeast, so we just happened to get the upper hand.”

Yu Dayou looked at the sketch of the Arab fleet’s location drawn by the reconnaissance team, thought secretly in his mind, put the sketch on the table, and began to assign tasks to the commanders of each team.

“The front squad, charge forward, and fire from both broadsides as you charge. I don’t care about the hit rate, I just want to break up their formation.

I want to split the Arab fleet in half.

After the front squadron rushed over, it turned diagonally to the left to regain the upper hand. At the same time, the rear squadron attacked the right half of the Arab fleet that was divided into two halves from the upper wind.

The left squadron went around this side, encircled the left half of the Arab fleet on the upwind side, and attacked from the outside in. The right squadron followed the path of the front squadron and attacked from the inside out the left half of the enemy fleet.

After the fight, pay attention to the detour to gain the upper hand.
The mobile team is on standby to provide support at any time.
The old rules, wolf pack tactics. Attack the big ships first, and the ones with more guns, knock them all out. It doesn’t matter if it’s artillery fire or rockets, as long as the enemy ships are pushed to the bottom of the sea.”

Yu Dayou slapped the sketch several times and said harshly, “Sai Linmu, Chittagong is far away, and the fire over there cannot be seen from here.

Thanks to the Dragon King, as soon as we got here, a fleet of Arab pirates was sent to give us a feast.

All teams and ships, please be alert and perform this grand drama of the Vermillion Bird sailing to the South Ocean. The second act, the great victory over the Arabian pirates in the Goa Sea, should be performed brilliantly for me!”

“Follow the order!”

The next morning, at around four o’clock, as soon as a blue gap appeared between the sea and the sky in the east, the Suzaku Navy weighed anchor and set sail, divided into five teams, and headed north like an arrow.

At around five o’clock, a ball of orange-red was brewing between the eastern sea and the sky, and half of the sky turned light blue. More than 200 Ming Dynasty ships were sailing on the deep blue sea, riding the wind and waves, leaving traces of waves.

The flags fluttering on the mast look like flying seabirds, and one of them is a large flag that is particularly eye-catching.

A firebird is flying in the fire. It is one of the four sacred beasts in Eastern mythology, the Vermilion Bird!

The sun jumped out, illuminating the Suzaku flag with a fiery red color.

The Suzaku navy charged in front, and the Sun chased behind.

At around eight o’clock, the outer patrol boats of the Arab fleet noticed something was wrong. They saw a huge fleet, covered in the golden glow of the rising sun, breaking through the waves from the south.

“Enemy attack!”

When the Arab fleet was spreading this news in panic, the front detachment of the Suzaku Navy, with four Class B battleships, six frigates, ten Wusong battleships of 1,200 to 1,600 tons, and fifteen Wusong frigates of 600 to 1,000 tons, formed two columns and penetrated into the middle of the Arab fleet.

The artillery exploded with a loud bang, and the artillery of the front squadron of the Suzaku Navy poured down on the Arab ships on both sides like a rainstorm.

The firepower was so fierce that these experienced Arab pirates and sailors had never encountered it before. Shells whizzed across the sea, hitting the ships one after another, causing them to sway from side to side.

Especially the two galleys, where the rowers were still sleeping in the cabins, the shells whizzed in, smashing many sleeping sailors and rowers to pieces.

Leon, Condorcet, Suarez, and all the defenders in the fortress ran up to the city wall and witnessed with their own eyes a bloody and fiery naval battle unfolding under the morning sun.

(End of this chapter)