1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3712

Gao Qiaomin, who had been waiting in the Port of Suez for more than a month, finally saw the safe return of Qian Tiandun and his party, and he finally felt relieved.

During Qian Tiandun's inland investigation, the Hai Han fleet stationed in Suez Port could do little to help and could only wait. Fortunately, the expedition went smoothly and there were no safety issues that Gao Qiaonan was worried about. The weapons and ammunition they brought back were almost all intact.

While waiting in the port of Suez, Takahashi Minami was not idle. He selected a part of the troops from the fleet to explore the Gulf of Aqaba on the east side of the Sinai Peninsula and revised the existing nautical charts.

In addition, there are some Ottoman merchants who hope to follow the Hai Han fleet to Hamban Port, or even visit other Hai Han ports further east.

According to Takahashi Nan, these merchants were attracted by the Hai Han delegation's trade activities in the Port of Suez. They were very interested in the various commodities displayed by the delegation and planned to go to Hai Han in person to obtain first-hand sources of goods.

This is undoubtedly a great benefit for Qian Tiandun, who wants to expand trade routes to the Middle East and the Mediterranean. It seems that the Ottoman merchants in Suez Port seem to have a much better business sense than their counterparts in Basra and Aden.

But Gaoqiao Nan did not bring all good news to Qian Tiandun. The telegram sent from Fubo Port in the Persian Gulf indicated that some pirate gangs had appeared in the area recently, and their main activity area was the Strait of Hormuz, which had affected the safety of Fubo Port.

"When we were in the Persian Gulf, we didn't hear much about pirate activities there. As soon as we left, these pirates followed us. The timing was really good!"

After listening to Gao Qiaonan's report, Qian Tiandun immediately gave his own judgment. He didn't believe that there was such a coincidence in the world. Even if these pirates were not coming for Fubo Port, he would never allow such unstable factors to appear in the area near Fubo Port.

Since an emergency has occurred, the return route has to be changed, and we have to make another trip to the Strait of Hormuz.

However, before leaving the Port of Suez, Qian Tiandun visited the local governor Ilhan again to express his gratitude for his assistance in the investigation.

Ilkhan received several benefits from Hai Han and his attitude towards Qian Tiandun became increasingly friendly. He said that if Hai Han needed to open a trading post in Suez in the future, it could come to him for help, which would save the trouble of going through various formalities.

This kind of help is certainly not for free. Qian Tiandun knows the other party's purpose, but as long as the other party can do the job for money, he doesn't mind spending money to get a favor.

Li Yuande and Dong Shangyi were ordered to carry out a large-scale purchase in the Port of Suez. One purpose was to prepare supplies for the return journey, and the other was to bring some supplies to the Port of Zhenhai.

Although the voyage from Zhenhai Port to Aden Port is shorter, considering that there are only a few ships at Zhenhai Port and the transportation capacity is relatively limited, it is more convenient for the fleet to purchase from Suez Port and bring it over.

In addition to food and daily necessities, they also bought a large number of poultry and livestock in the Port of Suez, preparing to transport them to Zhenhai Port for breeding. The cattle and sheep alone filled two ships, and Li Yuande said with a smile that Zhenhai Port might become the first pasture in the Gulf of Aden in the future.

After everything was ready, the fleet set out on its return journey. A few days later, the fleet sailed out of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and successfully arrived at Zhenhai Port on the west side of the Gulf of Aden.

Compared to the scene when the fleet left here, there are several more wooden piers on the coast, which have initially acquired the function of a port.

However, due to the limited manpower stationed in Zhenhai Port, the infrastructure project has progressed slowly, and now some manpower has to be allocated to take care of the hundreds of livestock and dozens of cages of poultry that have just been delivered here.

There is no particularly good way to supplement the labor force. It is obviously unrealistic to organize a large number of immigrants to move here in a short period of time. The only way to quickly supplement the labor force is to buy slaves from nearby cities.

Although Qian Tiandun did not like to use slaves as labor, he was forced by the special environment here and it seemed that this was the only way to solve the current urgent needs. So when he left Suez Port, he also sent people to the local slave market to buy more than 300 young and strong people and transported them to Zhenhai Port for resettlement.

These slaves bought by Hai Han are undoubtedly the lucky ones in this group. The living conditions they will receive will definitely be much better than those of their companions who were sold to other places. At least their food and accommodation will be better guaranteed, and they will not be treated like animals by their masters.

Most importantly, as long as they behave well, they will have the opportunity to regain their freedom and even become naturalized citizens of Hai Han in the future. Getting rid of slavery through labor will be their goal in the next few years.

However, on the second day after the fleet arrived at Zhenhai Port, they received another telegram from Fubo Port. The local garrison said in the telegram that the base was attacked by pirates and the two sides engaged in a battle. The garrison had temporarily repelled the invading enemy and there were no casualties on their side.

Although there was no loss, it was definitely a dangerous signal. There were at least two larger trading ports in the Strait of Hormuz, but the pirates targeted the Fubo Port, which was still in the early stages of construction and had little to gain. This was obviously not normal.

Qian Tiandun originally planned to stay in Zhenhai Port for a while, letting the fleet personnel serve as temporary laborers to complete the camp project before returning. However, the battle report from Fubo Port made Qian Tiandun realize that the situation there might be more urgent than he expected, and he could not delay any longer.

Leaving nearly half of the ship's supplies at Zhenhai Port, the fleet hurriedly set off from the Gulf of Aden to the Persian Gulf.

Qian Tiandun originally wanted to go to Aden Port again on his return trip, but due to the current emergency, he had to give up this plan.

During the voyage, the fleet received another telegram from Fubo Port, saying that the pirates had gathered more troops and launched another offensive against Fubo Port. However, the defenders successfully defeated the enemy with their superior combat power, but three people were killed or wounded in this battle, and a certain amount of ammunition was consumed, so they needed to be resupplied as soon as possible.

"The telegram said that there are thousands of pirates and more than 20 ships. There are not so many good things for them to rob in Fubo Port. It seems more like they want to capture the place and drive us out!"

Qian Tiandun was almost certain that the pirate attack on Fubo Port was not a coincidence, but a targeted action. The other party's actions would not end here, and they might gather more troops to attack Fubo Port again soon.

He immediately convened an emergency combat meeting and assigned tasks to his officers. He would personally lead the fleet flagship and two other warships also equipped with steam-powered systems, leaving the fleet and rushing to Fubo Port at full speed for reinforcement.