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Since ancient times, the Strait of Hormuz has been a transportation and strategic location, shaped like a curved bow.
Abbas I also paid a lot of money to get the help of the British navy and seize control of this strait.
Abbas I would not have been able to do this if he relied solely on the naval strength of the Safavid Empire.
After thirty years, the naval strength of the Safavid Empire has increased significantly. There are nearly 200 large and small warships and nearly 6,000 naval soldiers, all of which are stationed in the Port of Hormuz and the Bandar Abbas Port on the north coast. ;
It also obtained many naval guns from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. But there are not many. There are actually only eight warships equipped with artillery, and each ship only has ten or eight guns.
Most of the others are small and medium-sized warships, using traditional bows and arrows and swords.
With their strength, if they were to fight on a wide ocean, to be honest, it would not be enough to fill the gap between the Great Qin Ocean Fleet.
However, there are many islands in the Strait of Hormuz, including Qeshm Island, Hormuz Island, Hengam Island, Salama Island, Enem Island, Musandam Island, etc.
There are dense reefs and shoals between these islands, which is very beneficial to the small warships of the Safavid Empire. They can be as invisible as wolves.
After the Qin army's giant ship entered the strait, because it was not very familiar with the waters, it had to be very careful to avoid running aground or running aground.
Because of these factors, the fleet led by Wei Ji did not enter the Strait of Hormuz rashly.
For them, it doesn't matter whether they can enter or not. As long as they cruise in the slightly wider waters outside the strait and intercept passing merchant ships, they can also achieve the purpose of blockade.
The merchants of Great Qin have always followed the footsteps of the navy. Wherever the navy goes, the merchant ships will go. After Wei Ji and the others intercepted the merchant ships of the Safavid Empire. Sell directly to the merchants of Da Qin, and at the same time obtain supplies from Da Qin's merchant ships, without leaving at all.
If the Qin army is allowed to continue like this outside the strait, the traffic lifeline on the Safavid Sea will be blocked.
We know that it is very dangerous outside the strait, but what can we do? Hussein Alevi, commander of the Safavid Empire fleet, could only bite the bullet and assemble the fleet and actively prepare for war, while sending people to negotiate with the Qin army.
That’s right, it’s negotiation.
At least on the surface, there is no war between Safavid and Daqin. If there is any problem, the two families can still sit down and talk about it first.
Hussein Alevi sent the man he thought was the most eloquent, the forty-year-old logistics officer Muhammad Attis. Take a boat to the outside of the bay.
Muhammad Attis came with an uneasy mood. After seeing the Qin army's giant treasure ship on the sea, he became more and more uneasy.
The treasure ship looked like a mountain. After boarding it, the wide deck was like an island floating on the sea. It gave Mohammed Attis a huge shock, and his heart suddenly tightened inexplicably.
After getting on the deck, Mohammed Attis felt like he had walked for a long time before he came to the command cabin. The spacious command cabin makes people not feel that they are on a ship at all, but also think that they are in a palace.
Not only were there a large number of ship charts hanging in the cabin, but there were also various navigational instruments that Muhammad Attis could not name, and there was even a huge sand table. The combat staff is busy, busy but orderly.
The sand table is not made of sand, but of white rice. If it hadn't been piled up with various mountains and rivers. Muhammad Attis thought he was taken to the ship's granary.
The people of Qin are really smart. Even the sand table can be used to prepare food, killing two birds with one stone. Muhammad Attis thought so.
Wei Ji was tall, with a Chinese character face, a pair of broad-bladed eyebrows, piercing eyes, and bronze skin. He was sitting on the other side of the sand table with a golden sword, and quietly watched Muhammad Attis being brought in by the soldiers.
Muhammad Attis hurriedly put his hand on his chest, bowed and saluted: "Muhammad Attis, pay homage to His Majesty the General."
"You're welcome, no courtesy."
After all, Muhammad Attis came on behalf of the Safavid Empire, and Weiji's tone was a bit condescending.
Muhammad Attis immediately straightened up, regained his composure and said: "Your Majesty, General, our country has no conflict with your country. I wonder why the general robbed our merchant ships without authorization? Your country has always claimed to be a country of etiquette. Is this the behavior that a country of etiquette should have?”
Wei Ji said calmly: "Are you here to challenge me?"
"Our country does not want to be an enemy of your country, but the general's behavior of plundering our merchant ships is clearly a challenge to our country. Your Excellency, the general, must give a reasonable explanation for this."
"You want an explanation, right? This general will give you an explanation. The Hezhong area is already the territory of our Great Qin. Your country has recently mobilized its army frequently to spy on our Hezhong territory. Is this a friendly act? Please give this general one too. Explain."
The Safavid Empire has long wanted to seize the Transoxiana area, and now its army is pressing down on the border, eyeing it with eager eyes. These are all facts.
But Muhammad Attis will never admit it: "There is a war in the river, and our country has mobilized troops to the border. It is only to prevent the war from burning into our territory, and to strengthen defense. Where do we start to challenge your country?"
"I can understand that you are worried about the flames of war reaching your own country and are strengthening defenses. But now that the war in the river has ended, your country not only did not withdraw its troops, but instead continued to increase its troops. Isn't this a challenge to our great Qin? "
"No, our country is just..."
"Stop talking nonsense! The Safavid soldiers are approaching the border. Are they spying on the river? This is a blind man eating glutinous rice balls, and he knows it in his heart. But don't treat others as fools. Our Daqin is a country of etiquette, and we don't do what we say on the surface. It's a shoddy act of doing something behind the scenes.
I have left my words here today. If your country does not withdraw the army pressing on the border in Hezhong, I will blockade the Persian Gulf for a day. Whether your country chooses to withdraw its troops or choose to go to war with me, Da Qin, is up to you. ! "
"Your Excellency General..."
"Come here, see the guests off!"
After Wei Ji finished speaking, he didn't bother to listen to any more nonsense from him and immediately issued an eviction order.
Just as Muhammad Attis was pushed to the cabin door by the soldiers, Wei Ji suddenly remembered something and hurriedly shouted: "Wait a minute, if your country is willing to have good relations with me, Da Qin, please choose the most beautiful princess and send it to Da Qin, be the concubine of my Da Qin Emperor.”
At that time, the emperor wanted to collect princesses from all over the world into his harem. Somehow it spread. Su Jin first presented a Kazakh princess, and the mission to Europe sent back a grape princess, as well as French princesses and a large number of noble ladies. This undoubtedly had a great influence on other people. The general caused great excitement. No matter where he fought, he was always thinking about the princess.
Muhammad Attis hurried back to Bandar Abbas Port and reported in detail what he saw and heard to Fleet Commander Hussein Alevi, including the situation of Qin Navy warships.
"You want our country to send the princess for marriage? Huh!" Hussein Alevi frowned. He quickly dismissed the matter of sending the princess for marriage. How to deal with the threat in front of him was the most urgent matter for him.
When he sent Muhammad Attis to negotiate, Hussein Alevi had already realized that the source of the trouble lay in the Transoxiana area.
He knew his own affairs, and if he said that Safawi was spying on He Zhongwu, he was just telling others.
If the Junggar tribe hadn't suddenly entered the Indus River Basin, causing a drastic change in the situation here, and Isfahan deliberately turned to capture the Indus River Basin first, the army would have crossed the river long ago.
At first, I never expected that the Qin Congress would threaten the lifeline of the empire from the sea.
Well now, not only are they here, but they also have a powerful fleet that defeated the Dutch and Mughal combined navies.
According to Muhammad Attis's description, one of his ships is almost larger than his two hundred warships combined.
If it were in the Hormuz River Gorge and there was a good location to rely on, Hussein Alevi would still have some confidence.
Once out of the Strait of Hormuz... Wait, at least half of the boats under my command are not suitable for fighting at sea. How will this battle be fought
After thinking about it, Hussein Alevi decided not to go to war for the time being. He first reported the conditions of the Qin people to Isfahan, the capital, and let the capital decide. It could delay it as long as it could, but it couldn't be delayed any longer.
In order to reduce losses, he ordered a ban on domestic merchant ships going to sea. As for those merchant ships that returned to Hormuz from other countries, they could only wish for themselves.
As a result, the Great Qin Navy guarding outside the Strait of Hormuz would gain less, and Wei Ji would no longer work.
Beating a child on a rainy day is nothing but idleness.
He sent two scissor warships, sailed along the Safavid coastline outside the Strait of Hormuz, and began to attack the towns along the coast. Persian things are good; Persian women are beautiful!
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.(To be continued...)
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