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Chapter 1145: Comprehensive Blockade 2
These hundreds of people were from the detained ships of various countries, and like the old Portuguese captain, they had no idea what was going on. Seeing the black muzzles of guns pointed at them, some of them immediately revealed their nature as privateer sailors, and drew their pistols from their waists, ready to fight to the death.

"Wait a minute... please wait a minute... I am Greg from the Danish East India Company, General Jieji, General Jieji, we are friends. He has no ill intentions, he may have drunk too much, please don't shoot, forgive him, I will take him away immediately!"

At this time, a tall European rushed out, raised his hands and explained to the soldiers in Chinese. He slowly walked to the old Portuguese captain, grabbed his arm and retreated together. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he was far away, and reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Greg, why is this happening? What exactly happened? I'm going to Manila to protest to the Ming Navy and demand compensation! If I miss the ship's date, my ship owner might go bankrupt, and then all of us and our families will starve!"

The old Portuguese captain was not afraid of anything. He still refused to give in and started yelling at Greg again. This was not surprising. There were many desperate people among the Ming Dynasty merchants, and the same was true for European captains and sailors.

If there were no Ming Navy to maintain order in Asian waters, they would immediately become members of privateers or even pirate ships, killing and robbing without mercy, and would be accustomed to life and death.

"Mr. Amarante, this is not Lisbon, nor Brazil. They are the masters of this sea. If you and your crew still want to see the port of Porto, don't provoke those soldiers.

You may not know that on the day they arrived here, they executed more than 40 sailors from Ottoman merchant ships, including several Portuguese, who, like you, refused to obey the blockade and tried to resist with force, injuring a soldier.

Wait a little longer, be patient. As far as I know, the Ming Empire is not deliberately making things difficult for us, they are fighting. Hormuz Island was chosen as a logistics base, and a blockade was implemented to ensure safety. "

Greg was a senior commercial representative of the Danish East India Company and the head of the Asian branch, stationed in Hormuz. He was involved in the weapons assistance and personnel infiltration projects for the Turkmen and Safavids, and was a partner of the Navy General Staff, so he knew a lot.

Although he had made limited protests and did not agree with such overbearing behavior, he immediately understood the seriousness of the matter after hearing that the emperor of the empire was leading the army in person, and he no longer bothered the naval staff.

"You are lying, they not only blockaded the Persian Gulf, but also the Red Sea. My ship came out of the port of Jeddah, and was forcibly forced here by the navy of the Ming Empire!" Unfortunately, good intentions were not rewarded. The sailors on each ship did not agree with Greg's explanation, and someone immediately put forward reasons to refute it.

"Wait a minute, young man, don't be impatient. Mr. Greg, please tell me who the Ming Empire is fighting against?"

After all, the old Portuguese captain was old, so he was not so angry, nor so impulsive, and he could still distinguish good people from bad ones. He reached out to stop the sailors who were about to shout again, and asked for details in a low voice. Now he was more or less sober, and realized that it was unlikely that he would be released in the short term, but he wanted to know why.

"It's the Ottomans. They heard that Murad IV tore up the peace agreement and detained the negotiators of the Ming Empire. As a result, the emperor of the Ming Empire was angry and led his troops here personally. The big ship with the golden sun and moon flag just now is the emperor's flagship!"

Greg was not kidding around and did know something useful, but his source of information was not the familiar naval staff but the Naval Statistics Department.

Two days before the Ming Navy arrived at the Port of Hormuz, a man without military uniforms accompanied by two naval officers came to the Danish East India Company and made a request to him in person. He hoped that the Danish East India Company would provide assistance in pacifying the detained ships and personnel of various countries, specifically, to tell these people what was happening in a private capacity, guide them not to take radical actions, and not to cause trouble for the navy.

After learning the whole story, most of the crew members were relieved. War is cruel, and under such conditions, it is lucky that the ships, goods and personnel are not requisitioned.

If you catch up, you can only blame others for your bad luck. Making more demands at this time will only cause more trouble. The best way is to wait patiently and pray that the Ming Empire will be the winner.

It's not that they want to stand on the side of the Ming Empire, but they are deeply involved in it and have no choice. If the Ming Empire loses the war, it is hard to say whether it will be angry and take the opportunity to loot the Port of Hormuz when it withdraws.

"The Ottomans... I don't like the Ottomans, and I dislike their religion even more. But the Ottoman army is very strong, and the Ming emperor's behavior is a bit reckless." But the old Portuguese captain did not seem to be completely neutral, and was a little worried about the Ming Empire.

"Mr. Amarante, we have opposite views on this issue, but I would like to hear your reasons first." Hearing that there was an opinion that differed from his own, Greg couldn't help but become more interested.

The Danish East India Company was very passive in this matter and had to cooperate with the Ming Empire Navy. If the Ming Empire was really defeated, the company would probably be driven out of the Persian Gulf and lose its last trading point in Asia.

"Look carefully, this is the memorial that the Ottoman Guards left for me in Chucuola more than ten years ago. Only three of the forty-one mercenaries from Spain, Portugal and Italy survived. My horse was also injured and rushed out of the battlefield with me, and was rescued by a Transylvanian farmer.

Their soldiers and generals are all very fanatical, and they have many large-caliber artillery. It would be difficult to defeat them head-on unless you have a strong city like Vienna or several times the number of troops.

The Ming Empire's warships were very powerful, and the navy soldiers were very capable, making them invincible on the sea. But this time they had to face a larger number of Ottoman Guards and Sipahi cavalry, and the battlefield was inland, and as the attackers, they also had to attack a strong city.

I can only say that the Ming emperor had a problem with his brain, choosing a war that was not advantageous in any aspect. If he had not chosen to start a war, but instead used the navy to blockade the ports of the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea for a long time, he might have had a much better chance of winning.

The Ottomans cannot lose these two trade routes connecting to the East forever. After seeing the determination of the Ming Empire, they will sooner or later choose to negotiate to resolve the dispute. "

The old Portuguese captain was not talking nonsense. He had a very rich life experience. Not only was he a captain of an ocean-going merchant ship, he was also summoned by the church to join the mercenaries to resist the Ottoman invasion.

It was that painful experience that made him realize more deeply why the Ottoman Empire had been able to defeat the Europeans for hundreds of years, and he no longer believed that the Ming Empire could resolve disputes with its army.

(End of this chapter)