The Maritime Silk Road has existed for a long time, and even during the Han Dynasty, maritime trade had begun to develop gradually.
Although the trade goods at that time were mainly silk, with the passage of time and the advancement of history, as more imported goods entered the Tang Dynasty on the maritime trade channels, the silk, porcelain, and tea of the Tang Dynasty And so on, they have become major trading items and are extremely popular and favored by the powerful in various countries.
As a result, with the large amount of trade exchanges and the cargo staying at the port, it brought huge profits to the ports of the coastal countries passing through.
It was precisely because of this that Li Hong took a fancy to this, so in order to push the coastline of the Tang Dynasty along the Maritime Silk Road as much as possible, he tried his best to ensure that the profits of Datang merchants would not be divided by the coastal countries. , Devour.
Therefore, we had to use Qiongzhou and Annan Protectorate as our rear bases, continue to move Datang's coastal ports to the west and south, and protect the interests of Datang merchants to the greatest extent and ability.
Along the sea voyage, you can see various merchant ships every day, flying a big Chinese flag, fluttering in the wind, and sailing westward along the coastline.
At this time, merchant ships on the sea, seeing the two Qinglong and Zhuque ships also flying the flag of the Tang Dynasty, would stand on the bow of the ship and cheer from a distance. From time to time, they would jump up and down on the deck and fight with the two warships. Say hello.
As the Lingnan navy built by Pei Xingjian and Chen Jingzhi traveled in various sea areas, the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty did not have the slightest fear of the warships of the Tang Dynasty. Instead, just like what Li Hong encountered during this period, every time the Great Tang Dynasty When the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty saw the warships of the Tang Dynasty, they would give out bursts of cheers and various greetings.
It was also because of the long-distance cruising of the Lingnan Navy that the Maritime Silk Road derived from the coastline became more prosperous and faced various dangers from pirates, allowing the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty to sail without any scruples. Cruising and exploring the farther sea direction.
Whether the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty set sail from Guangzhou or Quanzhou, they had to pass through Qiongzhou in Hainan, and then along the routes of Zhenla, Mendu, Guda, Longyamen, Luoyue, Srivijaya, and Heling. , Guluo Kingdom, Goguluo Kingdom, Shengdeng Kingdom, Bolu Kingdom, Lion Kingdom, Nantianzhu, Brahman Kingdom, Xindu River, Tiroluhe Kingdom, Ula Kingdom, etc.
Next, you can reach Dashi, the destination of Li Hong's trip. If you continue along the coast, you can continue to the Moro Kingdom, Sanlan Kingdom, and all the way to Africa.
"Guangzhou Tonghai Yi Dao" is a geographical chronicle that Pei Xingjian placed on the Qinglong. So when Li Hong read through so many countries that the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty had to pass through when trading in the open sea, Qinglong and Zhuque were also here. At that moment, like two giant beasts, they entered the Red Sea.
Entering the Gulf of Aden in the Red Sea, you will inevitably face what merchant ships were talking about in the previous generation: Somali pirates. Fortunately, there are no pirates appearing in this place at this time.
As the era of white food is still in its heyday, there are no descendants of the Hashemite family. After the era of black food came, they were gradually driven away from the mainland, and then migrated across the sea to live here, forming many A large and small country named after Sultan.
After passing through the Gulf of Aden and entering the Red Sea completely, and continuing to sail, you can pass through the narrowest point of the Red Sea, enter the Mediterranean Sea, and then reach Europe. But the Suez Canal has not been dug yet, and it has reached its end after reaching a place not far from the food capital.
Li Hong stood on the deck, wanting to look at the scenery on both sides of the river like looking at a map, or sailing on the Yangtze River or the Red River.
But to his disappointment, standing on the deck, he could still see the boundless sea. The Red Sea was more than 30 kilometers at its narrowest point and more than 300 kilometers at its widest point, so he wanted to enjoy the Yangtze River like It is impossible to enjoy the scenery like a river basin.
But just as Li Hong continued to look with the telescope, dark shadows like waves began to appear in the distance of the calm and wide sea, as if connected to the sky.
"Be alert, prepare for battle." Li Hong put down the telescope and suddenly said to Hua Meng behind him.
Then the messenger immediately waved the flag to the Suzaku, which was sailing parallel to the Qinglong. Almost at the same time as him, Lawless discovered the black shadows like waves in front of him, and the warships began to be reflected in the telescope one after another. Inside.
"Why are there so many warships?" Wei Tuqi stood next to Li Hong, raising his telescope and looking into the distance. He had just roughly counted, and it seemed that there were no less than fifty or sixty warships.
And those battleships whose hulls were obviously much smaller than those of the Tang Dynasty also had flags hanging on them that looked like ghostly symbols. To Yu Tuqi, the writing on them looked like abstract turns, vertical and horizontal, which did not look like them at all. It's a word.
"Except for the navy of Dashi, no other country's navy can appear here. Both sides of this sea are their territory. This Red Sea is like the pond of their Dashi. There are so many It's not surprising for the Navy." Li Hong put down his telescope and watched the Suzaku, which was parallel to the Suzaku, gradually distance itself from him and assume a fighting posture. He was still extremely satisfied with the lawless decisiveness.
"Then what do they want to do?" From time to time, there were squeaking sounds in Yu Tuqi's ears. Needless to say, everyone knew that this was when the Tang Dynasty Navy began to enter a fighting state. At this moment, some powerful crossbows were being cocked, ensuring that they would be ready in case of emergency. When the situation arises, it can be launched at any time to respond.
Li Hong showed a disdainful smile while blowing the sea breeze. He watched with satisfaction as the entire Qinglong quickly entered the battle state. He said lightly: "When Saleh entered Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, Li Lingyue and I used the Drum Tower as a prank. The sound of the drums is quite frightening. Now that we have entered their territory, they are naturally adhering to the friendly etiquette of reciprocity and are ready to retaliate in kind and give me a blow. "
As Wei Tuqi listened to Li Hong's explanation, a sinister smile began to appear on his lips. When the Tang navy went to conquer Japan, both the Qinglong and the Suzaku were able to beat the Japanese navy to a pulp with one against ten, without even fighting back. Power.
Nowadays, the combat power of these improved Qinglong and Suzaku has increased many times compared to the original hastily formed army.
If faced with those Dashi warships in the distance that looked similar to the Japanese warships, Yu Tuqi believed that the Dashi navy would probably just cry.
Thinking of this, Wei Tuqi couldn't help but pictured in front of his eyes the miserable sight of Da Shi Ren struggling in the sea, calling for help, and after Da Shi's warship was dismembered by the powerful firepower of Qinglong and Suzaku, the decks were scattered on the ground. The embarrassing situation on the sea.
"I don't know if Saleh is also on the warship? Will he be in their capital at this time, or will he come to me as a courtesy and then appear on one of these warships? What?" Li Hong still had a playful smile on his face, murmuring to the sea breeze as to whether Saleh was coming.
"But... how did they know that we would enter here today?" Wei Tuqi looked at the sudden appearance of several tubes of black stuff on the deck, and stretched out his hand to touch it with some fear. These guys are secret weapons. Each black iron pipe can launch extremely powerful fire crossbows, and then these fire crossbows make a shrill tsunami sound. As long as they hit the deck of the enemy's warship, they can ignite the sky mines above in a short time. A single crossbow arrow is enough to blow a large food warship to pieces.
Li Hong held up his telescope and looked at the Dashi warship getting closer and closer to them. He answered Yu Tuqi's question: "Counting from the time I left Song Ping, plus the approximate time stated in my secret message to Ye Yue. , and looking at the loose formation of their warships, it can be confirmed that they have been swimming boredly on the sea for several days, waiting for my appearance. "
It was as if Li Hong's words were heard by the commander of the navy in Dashi. Just after Li Hong finished speaking, Commander Buser, the commander of the navy in Dashi, who could already see each other's warships, couldn't believe it. Two battleships came.
Although the two battleships looked much larger than the battleship they were eating, they looked like moving fortresses from a distance, and they also seemed very cruel and cold in their momentum.
But the more this happened, the more difficult it became for him to understand. Such a large ship should be extremely inconvenient when moving. Even if their sails are as big as clouds, they should not be as big as himself. Isn’t the battleship very powerful
What's more, even if the combat effectiveness of a single warship is stronger than his own, he at least has an absolutely overwhelming advantage in numbers. With fifty warships, I am afraid that in the blink of an eye, Datang's warships can be wiped out on the sea.
If you add in the fact that the ten warships led by Prince Saleh, which he cannot even see, and a total of sixty warships are still cruising behind him, even if they do not attack but just besiege them, they can destroy the Tang Dynasty's ships. Surrender to the siege.
Buser looked at the two parallel warships of the Tang Dynasty from a distance. The gap between them was enough to fit their entire fleet of warships. He was convinced that the people of the Tang Dynasty were not familiar with water warfare, and it was not a matter of contempt for his opponents. Heart.
"There is no need to form a formation. We just need to sail our warships into the middle of their two warships to cut off their mutual communication. What we have to do is to make them unable to help each other, and then wait for His Highness the Prince to lead ten warships. After you come here, teach the Tang people a lesson in person." Buser, as a famous naval general in the Great Food Dynasty, looked at the only two warships of the Tang Dynasty at this moment, but he didn't know that he was defeated for the first time in his life. , getting closer and closer to him.
(End of chapter)