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Chapter 1074 Loss is Gain
Almost at the time when Shah Safi was waiting confidently for a reply from the Imam of Bandar Abbas, an extremely unequal battle was taking place more than 3,000 kilometers southeast of Bandar Hormuz.

Five kilometers north of Colombo, on the north bank of the Kelani River, there is a small port and a group of houses surrounded by wooden walls. This is the supply port rented by the Ming Empire on Ceylon Island.

On weekdays, the small port only provides some drinking water, vegetables and fruits for the passing naval ships, and the scale is not large. In addition, according to the original agreement with the Kingdom of Kandy, the garrison cannot exceed 200 people.

At this time, there were thousands of shirtless men in skirts, shouting loudly, holding various weapons, rushing towards the wooden wall, building human ladders and climbing inside using their hands and feet.

These people are the army of the Kingdom of Kandy, let's call them the army for now. The locals have no concept of military uniforms. When they pick up weapons, they are soldiers, and when they put down weapons, they are civilians. At most, they draw some lines on their arms and faces to distinguish each other's identities.

In the 17th century, there were two kingdoms on the island of Ceylon, the Kingdom of Jaffna in the north and the Kingdom of Kandy in the south.

The Jaffna Kingdom was mainly composed of Tamils, with its capital in Jaffna, located at the northernmost tip of Ceylon, a seaport city. The Kandy Kingdom was mainly composed of Sinhalese, with its capital in Sangetgalla, located in the central mountainous area.

As early as the end of the 16th century, Jaffna was captured by the Portuguese. The king was killed and the prince was put on the throne as a puppet. The Tamil people on the entire island of Ceylon are good at sailing and mostly live in coastal areas. Once they lose the upper hand at sea, it is difficult for them to rely on the geographical environment to resist for a long time.

The Sinhalese were originally descendants of the Aryans who migrated from the north of the Indian peninsula. They not only retained their nomadic skills, but also mastered the skills of an agricultural nation. The mountains in the central part of Ceylon were their natural fortress.

The Portuguese invaders had strong ships and powerful guns, and they also had muskets to help them. The Sinhalese, who were relatively primitive in combat power, could not compete with them at all. However, after entering the mountains and dense forests, the power of firearms was greatly offset, and the advantage in numbers gradually emerged. In the final analysis, there were too few Portuguese.

In this way, the Portuguese occupied the coastal port cities and some plains, while the Kingdom of Kandy guarded the central and southern mountains. The two sides fought for decades, with each side winning and losing. The final result was that one side could not enter the mountains, and the other could not get close to the sea, and they were in a stalemate.

"No wonder so many people have fought for so many years but still can't deal with the hundreds of Portuguese defenders. They are so lacking in military training!"

Yu Bushui, the commander of the Imperial Marines, stood on the deck of the Qin-class battleship, looking at the base through a telescope. He was not interested in the performance of the Kandy soldiers, and he was not very confident about the future secret assistance plan.

Not to mention whether the steel crossbows produced by the empire can be used and maintained normally, it will take at least a year or two to achieve results just in training basic military skills.

The foundation was too poor. When charging, they crowded together and ran to where there were more people. In other words, the Tianquan Guards who were responsible for guarding this place received orders in advance and withdrew all the people and equipment to the dock early. When the other side charged, this side fired guns into the air, and then quickly boarded the ship and escaped.

If one or two hundred people were left behind, and equipped with a few field guns, even if these thousands of Kandy soldiers were fearless and brave, they would not be able to capture this small port which did not even have proper permanent fortifications. If they ran slowly, few of them would be able to return.

"Don't worry, Dusi. As long as we can provide them with lethal long-range weapons, the Portuguese in the city will have a headache. Most of those vassal soldiers are Sinhalese and Tamil, and they often turn against us on the battlefield.

The Portuguese should not leave the city. As soon as they step out of the city gate, someone will definitely tip them off. If they walk a little further, they will be hit by arrows. The General Staff has done statistics and estimated that the Tamils ​​and Sinhalese people combined are more than one million. The Portuguese cannot afford to exchange one life for a hundred lives. At most, they will have to run away in two years."

Although the Tianquan Guards were not stationed in Colombo, the commander Gao Lie still came with the Indian Ocean Fleet. He was familiar with the situation here and expressed different opinions on his superior's evaluation.

"Two years? Forget it. It won't even take half a year. The order received by the General Staff is to complete the planning of the new naval base within this year, based on Colombo. The Marine Command has at most three months to use, and Colombo must be taken before the rainy season arrives." You Budong was not angry after being corrected by his subordinates. If the commander of the guard didn't understand the situation of the guard station, he would be angry. But the things he considered in his position were different from the commanders of the next level, and he had to think more about the overall situation.

"Three months? Impossible. It's impossible to rely on them! Unless... Commander, I have a method that is guaranteed to work. Let our soldiers wear skirts with bare chests, paint their faces with more ink, and not speak after going into battle. As long as we wipe out all the Portuguese, no one will be able to recognize them!"

Now Gao Lie finally understood why the Navy General Staff issued such a stupid order. It turned out that they wanted to do something bad but didn't want anyone to know. But this was not an excuse for the stupid order. There were many other ways to prevent Portugal from knowing that Colombo Port was captured by the Ming Navy, such as disguising as soldiers from the Kingdom of Kandy.

"...Gao Lie, I find that you are getting smarter and smarter!"

Swimming and glancing at the fire on the shore, the base was doomed. I hope those stupid Kandy soldiers didn't forget to take away the weapons and explosives in the warehouse, otherwise the whole show would be in vain and the port would be burned in vain.

"That's right. I was in the first batch of people selected from the Warrior Battalion of the Imperial Stables to join the navy. Think about it, can a fool be selected?" Gao Lie was a little proud of being praised in person by his immediate superior, even though it would have no effect without a written document.

He was one of the first veterans of the navy, having joined in 1612. In terms of age and seniority, he was older than You Budong and most of the naval commanders. He believed that the reason why he had not yet been promoted to a high position was due to his academic qualifications, not his IQ.

"If you ask me, whoever chose you in the first place must have a problem with his IQ!" Hearing Gao Lie showing off his seniority again, You Budong couldn't help but make a few sarcastic remarks.

"...It was selected by His Majesty himself! If you can give the Tianquan Guard an excellent grade in this year's evaluation, I will pretend that I didn't hear it." Gao Lie is really a tough guy. He was actually waiting here and showed a smug grin.

"Don't try that on me. Even if the Emperor knew about it, he wouldn't punish me for it. Instead, he would give you a good beating." But You Budong was able to keep his composure and didn't show any sign of giving in.

"Why!?"

"Just based on your stupid idea! And you're wearing makeup. Do you think the staff are all fools? You can't even think of such a simple solution. Use your solid brain. The fortress that the Kingdom of Kandy has not been able to conquer for decades was suddenly captured, and the defenders were completely wiped out. If you were the Governor of Goa, would you believe it?

This battle must be fought by Kandy soldiers, who must attack the city with cold weapons. The Portuguese defenders must also have time to escape by ship and tell the Governor of Goa everything they saw. This would be perfect.

By then, no matter how suspicious the Portuguese were, they had to accept their fate. The reality was that the Kandy soldiers first attacked our naval port, and then used the stolen gunpowder to blow up the city wall.

At this time, we still have to blame the Portuguese. When we leased this land from the Kingdom of Kandy to build a port, they caused a lot of trouble. After final negotiations, it was decided that the number of garrison soldiers should not exceed 200.

As a result, something went wrong. If more soldiers had been stationed at the port, the attack would not have been avoided. If the port had been protected, the gunpowder would not have been lost. Without gunpowder, how could the Kandy soldiers blow up the city wall? You see, the responsibility ultimately lies with the Portuguese, so they have to swallow their anger. "

Why wasn't he afraid that his subordinates would complain to the emperor, because You Budong overturned his previous proposal and classified him as a moron. If Gao Lie couldn't justify himself, then the title of moron would be confirmed, and he would have no face to complain.

(End of this chapter)