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Chapter 1142 Food and grass go first
"The navy is a bit too cautious. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is only 20 kilometers wide, and the Strait of Hormuz is only 50 kilometers wide. The Ottoman Empire's naval strength is not as good as that of the Dutch. It does not need 30 combat ships to blockade it. Half of them are enough.

The rest will return to their respective positions, but 5 more battleships will be sent to Enniao Port. Murad IV's sudden change of attitude may be due to factors from European countries, so we must be on guard.

Another issue is the security of the Port of Hormuz. The Danes are unreliable, and the Persians are also unreliable. If we want to become a logistics base for the front line, we must rely on ourselves.

It is winter now, and most of the Bohai Sea coast is frozen. We will transfer some of the Wenjia Guards stationed at Dagukou, Weihai and other ports to guard the island. We must ensure that nothing goes wrong!"

As soon as he entered the captain's cabin, Hong Tao took the initiative and ordered his men to move out all the furniture that was in the way, making room for a folding table and unfolding the map. He then started a combat meeting with Du Wenhuan, Ding Shun, Zhu Haiou and a group of army and naval staff.

As the saying goes, food and supplies must be prepared before troops move forward. This attack on the Ottoman Empire's homeland was a long and arduous expedition. Every move was within the enemy's sight. There was no way to launch a feint attack or a surprise attack, so the only option was to attack by force.

As a landing battle, the first foothold was set at the port of Fao in the north of the Persian Gulf. It was built on the west side of the mouth of the Arabian River and was an important port in the north of the Persian Gulf. Occupying this port was equivalent to opening the gate to Mesopotamia.

From the port of Fao, going upstream along the Shatt al-Arab River for more than 50 kilometers, the river suddenly splits into two branches. The one to the south is called the Euphrates River, and the one to the north is called the Tigris River.

The so-called Two Rivers Basin refers to these two rivers and the areas they nourish and irrigate, while Mesopotamia specifically refers to the middle and lower reaches of the Two Rivers Basin. This area is densely covered with water networks and fertile land, and once gave birth to the ancient Babylonian civilization.

These two rivers converge into the Shatt al-Arab River more than 50 kilometers from the northern end of the Persian Gulf. At the intersection lies an ancient city, Basra.

If Fao Port is regarded as the courtyard gate of Mesopotamia, then Basra is the hanging flower gate, which can only be opened to enter the core area.

To be honest, the battle plan drawn up by the General Staff was not particularly impressive and was quite standard. So why did Hong Tao approve it so quickly? Because he couldn't think of any brilliant ideas.

Following the rules and regulations may sound incompetent and boring, but it is actually not easy to do. If you do it, most things in the world can be solved smoothly.

In order to fight and win in the Arab region, in addition to having strong enough military power, one must also have a certain respect for nature. To explain it in ancient Chinese military tactics, this is called geographical advantage.

There is only one most economical route to attack the Ottoman Empire by landing in the Persian Gulf: Port Faw, Basra, and Baghdad, which is completely along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

Would it work if they didn't go this way? Horse caravans and camel caravans might work, but not a large army. The reason is simple: lack of water! The local environment is very similar to that of southern Xinjiang. There are oases near rivers for water supply, but away from rivers, it's either Gobi or desert. Tens of thousands of troops would die of thirst.

Since there was no second option, would the Ottoman Empire have already deployed its troops and prepared for the attack? It is very likely, but whether the enemy is prepared or not, they can only fight head-on.

In fact, it would be better if Murad IV's army gathered at Fau Port, so that Hong Tao could use the firepower advantage of the navy's guns to cause greater damage to it, and it is possible that he could achieve his goal in one battle, severely inflicting heavy damage on the opponent's main force, and the outcome would be decided without having to go deep into the inland for a long raid. However, this possibility is relatively small, and the reason is quite strange, it is actually a country thousands of miles away, neither bordering nor belonging to Asia, Portugal.

Although the port of Faw is located in the northern part of the Persian Gulf and is completely within the sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Dynasty of Persia, it is actually not controlled by either party. The Portuguese have the final say.

Abbas I, the revived ruler of the Safavid dynasty of Persia, once sent troops to attack the port of Faw, hoping to capture it together with Baghdad. At that time, the main force of the Ottoman Empire was fighting the Holy Roman Empire in Europe and was unable to return to rescue.

So Murad IV came up with a plan to ask the Portuguese for help on the condition of exempting trade taxes. The Portuguese actually agreed and sent hundreds of people and several rowing boats from the port of Muscat to the Shatt al-Arab River, blocking thousands of Persian troops on the other side.

Since then, the Safavid dynasty never attempted to get its hands on the port of Faw and the city of Basra. The Ottoman Empire was nominally the ruler, but only in name. The local Arab communities trusted the Portuguese more.

Thanks to the Navy Statistics Department's continuous collection of intelligence from various countries, the General Staff took this into consideration when formulating the combat plan. It planned to send someone from the Navy Staff to Goa to meet with the Portuguese Governor to convince the Portuguese to just stand by and watch, and not get involved.

Even if the Portuguese had many grievances against the Ming Empire, they would not stand on the side of the Ottoman Empire under such circumstances. Moreover, as long as the conditions were favorable enough, they would most likely secretly turn against the Ottoman Empire and provide intelligence support to the Ming Empire Navy.

No matter how the Portuguese react, if they want to attack Faao Port, they need a logistics base to store troops and supplies. Therefore, this temporary base cannot be too far away from Faao Port and must have certain defensive advantages.

In fact, you don’t have to choose carefully. As long as you have a fairly reliable map of the Persian Gulf, you can see at a glance what the most suitable place is. It must and can only be the Port of Hormuz.

First of all, it is an island, which is easier to defend than any fortified city given the absolute advantage of the navy. It is also under the control of the Safavid dynasty of Persia. As temporary comrades-in-arms, it is easy to communicate in dealing with common enemies.

Secondly, its infrastructure is relatively complete. The Danes have not been idle in recent years. Not only have they expanded the dock and added berths, they have also renovated the port area. There is a ready-made warehouse area, so there is no need to waste time on construction.

Finally, there is the road advantage. It is only 900 kilometers away from the port of Fao by sea. Based on the average speed of 5 knots for cargo ships, a one-way trip takes about 4 days, which is completely within the supply cycle.

In fact, there is a place closer to choose, the Port of Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain in later generations. It is also located on the island, only more than 400 kilometers away from the Port of Fao, and it only takes 2 days for a cargo ship to go back and forth. It is currently under the jurisdiction of the Safavid Dynasty of Persia, so it is not difficult to borrow it.

Unfortunately, neither the Portuguese who once built a warehouse here nor the Persians who took over later attached importance to this natural deep-water port. The dock was dilapidated, the port area didn't even have a wall, the infrastructure was too poor, and there was nothing needed, so the General Staff directly rejected it.

(End of this chapter)