1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3985

"The warships sail ten thousand miles down from the heavens, and the moonlit caves and cloud towers make us recognize our homeland. Do not say that the Western Ocean is vast and the waves are wide, for the Persian Gulf is shallow enough to float on."

With his hands behind his back, Li Yuande recited a poem while swaying his head. Anyone who didn't know his background would surely think he was a scholar with official rank.

The poem recited by Li Yuande was one of the exhibits I saw during a visit to Sanya. "Tianfang" is the ancient name for the Arabian region. However, the author of this poem had never been to the Persian Gulf, and the content was entirely based on imagination. While it captured the grandeur, it lacked some detail and was not particularly outstanding among the many poems and books on display at the time.

However, Li Yuande really liked the poem, thinking it was simple, easy to understand, and catchy, making it a masterpiece. He bought it and collected it.

Chen Pingliao stood at the bow of the ship, scanning the sea through binoculars. On the right side of the bow, at the horizon where the sea met the sky, he could vaguely see a dark shadow that met the sea level. Chen Pingliao knew that was the west coast of the Indian subcontinent.

In other words, the fleet is currently not in the deep ocean, and is only about half a day's voyage from the Indian subcontinent.

Upon hearing the poem recited by Li Yuande, Chen Pingliao laughed and said, "It's quite far from the Persian Gulf, isn't it?"

Li Yuande nodded in agreement, "It will probably take about ten more days of sailing."

Chen Pingliao asked, "Wouldn't it be more risky to cross directly through the Arabian Sea?"

Li Yuande said, "In bad weather, there is indeed a risk of losing our way. Usually, if we're not in a rush, our fleet will choose a relatively safe route."

"Actually, the safe route through the Arabian Sea is quite easy to follow. Just keep going along the west coast of the Indian peninsula and you will eventually reach the Strait of Hormuz. Although it is a bit of a detour, at least you won't get lost. When we first came here, we used this clumsy method."

Of course, this route wasn't entirely without safety concerns. For lone ships, venturing directly into the open ocean might be preferable, as vessels from any nation, including the Han, could become targets for plunder by armed European merchant ships. Moreover, almost the entire west coast of the Indian subcontinent was under Portuguese control.

Although Haihan had an alliance with Portugal, this could not completely restrain the overstepping of the rules by the civilian armed forces. Moreover, Haihan merchant ships were recognized as easy targets, and the value of a single shipment of goods was enough to tempt some people to take risks.

As for the pirate groups operating on the western side of the Arabian Sea, along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, they are much more docile. Nowadays, as soon as they see a red and blue flag flying on the mast of their target, the pirate ships will retreat on their own. This is because in the past two years, almost all pirate groups that dared to target Haihan ships have been wiped out, leaving only bloody lessons for their peers.

Not only are there long-term naval warships stationed in both Fubo Port and Zhenhai Port, patrolling and cruising in the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf of Oman from time to time, but Haihan merchant ships whose destinations are these two ports are also often equipped with muskets and small-caliber cannons. If pirate ships think they can succeed by approaching them, they will be killed by groups of armed merchant ships if they are not careful.

Therefore, pirate ships still operating along the Arabian Peninsula coast are often very cautious when choosing their targets, and will actively avoid merchant ships that are likely to cause trouble.

Chen Pingliao said, "If Commander Qian were to set aside his concerns and send troops to suppress them, he could probably wipe out most of the pirates in his jurisdiction within a year, right?"

Li Yuande shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. Many pirates actually have legal identities. When they're not plundering, they're fishermen and maritime merchants with legitimate livelihoods and identities. You can't kill them all by simply exterminating them; on the contrary, it's easy to attract hostility and resistance from the locals." Chen Pingliao smiled and said, "Is it that you can't, or that you don't want to?"

Li Yuande said, "It seems Brother Chen has thought of something."

Chen Pingliao said, "I heard that when the special forces division marched into the northern part of the Strait of Malacca, it was under the pretext of suppressing bandits. This reason should be quite useful, and it would be a pity to use it only once."

In early 1657, a combined fleet of special forces and the Star Island garrison set out for the northern part of Malacca under the pretext of suppressing bandits. They then occupied three islands, including Phuket, which became the bridgehead for the special forces to advance into the Indian Ocean.

As for the targets of the attack, they were actually mercenary groups under the Star Island authorities. After providing Haihan with sufficient reasons for sending troops, the mercenary groups disguised as pirates made their successful withdrawal.

These operations were naturally detailed in the reports available within the Executive Committee, and Chen Yixin did not conceal this information from Chen Pingliao. When the topic came up, Chen Pingliao naturally thought of this incident.

Seeing that Chen Pingliao knew the inside story, Li Yuande decided to be frank: "Leaving some pirates to fend for themselves will deter them from causing trouble for us. Instead, they will plunder merchant ships from other countries, which is actually indirectly beneficial to us."

Chen Pingliao nodded slightly, indicating his agreement with Li Yuande's statement. The fact that European merchant ships were being robbed by pirates in the Arabian Sea was certainly beneficial to Haihan's shipping and trade.

There's no need for Haihan to deliberately push things along; he can simply stand by and not interfere. Over time, the pirates will develop a tacit understanding, naturally knowing who can and cannot act, which will eventually become a potential asset.

Li Yuande said, "Also, since there are pirates in this area, we can make them take the blame for us if necessary. However, we should not resort to such methods unless absolutely necessary."

When the Star Island Mercenary Group disguised themselves as pirates, they plundered European merchant ships in the northern waters of the Strait of Malacca. However, such unconventional methods are not the right way to go, and using them too often will easily expose their deception. It is best to use them sparingly.

Chen Pingliao said, "However, this trick can be used by us, and others can use it too, so we still need to be careful."

Li Yuande said, "Therefore, Commander Qian has arranged for warships to escort the merchant fleets to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Although Chen Pingliao vaguely hoped that a small incident might occur along the way, the fleet he was in was too large. Even if someone wanted to take advantage of it, they wouldn't dare to do so. On the contrary, some ships that spotted Haihan's fleet from afar immediately adjusted their routes to avoid it.

In mid-November, after a long voyage of thousands of miles, the fleet finally entered the Strait of Hormuz smoothly, and Chen Pingliao was able to observe this strategically important location, which he had only seen on topographical maps in battle reports.

"Get a good night's sleep tonight, and you'll be able to see the Fubo Port docks first thing tomorrow morning."

Before nightfall, Li Yuande announced the arrangements for the final leg of the voyage to Chen Pingliao. Chen Pingliao, however, was wide awake that night. This long journey, which had lasted for months and covered tens of thousands of miles, was finally about to reach its destination.