1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3791

Although the speed of information transmission was slow in this era, the news that the newly established Shi'u Kingdom was rapidly expanding and annexing the territories of surrounding tribes soon spread to all parts of the Persian Gulf through various channels.

Hai Han did not take any special confidentiality measures, and even deliberately allowed the news to spread. The reason was that Qian Tiandun also hoped to establish the prestige of the Xihu Kingdom as soon as possible through this method, so that it would be easier for the Xihu Kingdom to handle the internal affairs of the Arabs in the future.

Of course, the role played by Hai Han in the expansion of Xihu Kingdom is no secret. It is not difficult for well-informed people to find out who is the backer behind Xihu Kingdom.

After all, even the founding ceremony of the Xihu Kingdom was held at Fubo Port controlled by Hai Han. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the two families are actually in the same boat.

Moreover, the Xihu people, who used to only have some fishing boats, suddenly had a naval fleet that could deploy troops. This ability obviously did not come out of nowhere, and it is not difficult to guess who is helping the Xihu people behind the scenes.

After the news spread, some local forces that had little contact with Xihu chose to send people to visit him. This was to conduct on-site inspections to find out Xihu's true strength, and also to take the opportunity to maintain relations with Xihu and try to avoid becoming Xihu's next target.

Although the capital of the Xihu Kingdom is temporarily located in Xihu City in the desert, due to its geographical location, Xihu City only retains its nominal status as the capital, and the real governing body is established near Fubo Port.

Therefore, if these visitors want to meet Abdullah, the real ruler of Xihu, they can just visit Fubo Port directly. If they are lucky, they may even have the opportunity to meet with the top leaders of Hai Han here, which is killing two birds with one stone.

What surprised the guests who visited Fubo Port for the first time the most was not only the rapid pace of infrastructure construction and the Hai Han fleet anchored at the port, but also the army they could see training nearby after they got off the ship - an army composed entirely of Arab soldiers.

The outside world has never understood how the Hihu tribe, which is almost insignificant in the Persian Gulf, could suddenly declare the establishment of a country and immediately mobilize an army to attack surrounding areas after the establishment of the country.

Of course, some people thought that Xihu was borrowing Hai Han’s troops to act, but the scene seen in Fubo Port seemed to indicate that Xihu’s military strength was not as weak as the outside world believed.

What surprised the audience even more was that these Arab soldiers in training did not use traditional weapons such as scimitars, but were all equipped with a strange short spear that was thin in front and thick in the back. When they got closer, they could see clearly that the short spear was actually a musket with a sharp bayonet on the front.

Little Abdullah was also happy to tell every envoy who came here to visit that the Xihu army was rapidly expanding and had received strong assistance from Hai Han in the process.

At the same time, he proudly declared that the Hijra Army would become the first army in the entire Persian Gulf region to be fully armed with firearms, and the Arab scimitar would no longer be the main weapon of the soldiers.

In order to prove his words, Abdullah took the envoys to see the live-fire drills of his troops. The Xihu army demonstrated not only musket shooting, but also artillery operation drills, which left those who were still skeptical speechless.

The envoys who came here were shocked again by the full firearms. Although muskets and artillery were not rare in this era, they were very expensive to manufacture and use. Even big countries like the Ottoman Empire and Persia only equipped a few troops with firearms. However, the newly established Hijra Kingdom claimed that it would be ahead of the big countries and take the lead in fully equipping the army with firearms. This was simply unbelievable.

Obviously, whether in terms of financial resources or military level, Xihu could not possess such strength. The only explanation is the "strong assistance from Hai Han" mentioned by young Abdullah.

Soon the envoys realized that Abdullah's enthusiasm was not without reason. After the show of force, Abdullah would take them to a newly built warehouse at the port.

This place is more like an exhibition hall than a warehouse, and the exhibits are all kinds of weapons and equipment that Hai Han can currently provide.

In addition to the various types of equipment currently being used by the Hijra army, there are also various traditional Arab weapons, various types of armor, carrying equipment, etc. There are even special personnel to answer questions and explain the performance and usage of the equipment on the spot.

The slow-witted people are still wondering what conditions Xihu used to exchange for Hai Han’s military aid, while the quick-witted people have already started to inquire about the price and delivery time of these equipment.

The Arabs are not indifferent to advanced weapons and equipment. On the contrary, they also want to have accurate long-range firepower. However, the channels for obtaining such weapons have always been controlled by Europeans. Europeans are determined to conquer the Persian Gulf, so these advanced weapons have always been scarce, and it is difficult to buy them even if you want to.

The Xihu army, which is now using this type of weapons, undoubtedly provides everyone with another option, making them realize that in addition to the Europeans, there is now a new supplier, Hai Han, who can provide everything needed to build an army.

Of course, the weapons and equipment that Hai Han could provide were not much cheaper than those previously available to the Portuguese and British. It was just that Hai Han's supply capacity was clearly stronger than its peers, and the upper limit of the purchase quantity was much higher than that of the Europeans.

But little Abdullah also said at the right time that the equipment displayed here cannot be bought with money. One must first become a friend of the Xihu Kingdom, or belong to the Xihu Kingdom, before being eligible to order these weapons and equipment from Hai Han.

This condition cannot be said to be very harsh, but it did discourage some people who were too enthusiastic. After all, the tribes that wanted to purchase a large number of weapons and equipment were often unwilling to live under the roof of others and wanted to improve their strength by arming themselves.

They could still negotiate with the Hijrah, but to belong to the Hijrah was a difficult condition for most tribes to accept. They even recognized the Ottoman Empire only verbally as their suzerain, so how could they be willing to serve the Hijrah as their master?

Little Abdullah has a master behind him to guide him, so he is not in a hurry to force these tribes to make a choice. After all, Xihu's current record is still a rumor to them, and they have not felt the pain personally. It is also human nature to want to wait and see the situation.

But as long as Xihu continues to expand its territory and annex surrounding tribes, these people will sooner or later realize that they missed the best conditions for cooperation when they first visited Fubo Port.