unclear

Chapter 1313 Troop Transport Ship 4
It's a bit ridiculous to say that Latin, which originally belonged to Europe, has now become a means of communication for the navy of the Ming Empire. However, when I brought this advanced technology back to Europe, I found it difficult to popularize it.

Because it was difficult to find sailors who were proficient in Latin among the European sailors, even ordinary nobles were not very familiar with Latin. Unless they went to the priests, everyone knew Latin.

But this did not stump Cohen, who followed the Emperor's idea and changed the Latin to Dutch. This step was easy, but it would take time for the sailors to remember the 27 sets of movements accurately. Currently, only a few can master them, and they cannot meet the minimum requirement of one person on each ship.

"We are facing the wind on the starboard side, and we should give way to them! Use flags to tell the lead ship not to pay attention to the Ottoman beasts and to maintain speed and course!" After a short while of communication, William roughly understood the situation, and then he started cursing again.

"Wait, what happened?" Cohen heard part of the conversation between William and the lookout. It seemed that they encountered a fleet heading in the opposite direction, and the other party asked to pass first.

This requirement is inconsistent with navigation practice. If the waterway does not support two fleets passing each other in opposite directions, it is usually the fleet on the port side that is exposed to the wind that slows down and gives way.

But conventions are conventions, and sometimes we still have to distinguish different situations. For example, now, as a European fleet is allowed to cross the strait controlled by the Ottoman Empire for the first time, it must be cautious.

"The lookout on the first ship said that a fleet flying the Ottoman flag was coming in the opposite direction and demanded priority passage. The Ottomans also joined the coalition forces. We are transporting the main force of the coalition forces. Why should we listen to their unreasonable demands?"

William stopped yelling and briefly stated the details of the incident as he knew it, not forgetting to add his own opinions, his expression full of hostility.

"Let the lookout send orders to all ships to lower the sails and make way!" As a result, Cohen not only did not support his toughness, but also gave the opposite order.

"…Order to lower the sails and let them pass! Governor, why should we let them?"

William was stunned for a moment, but he still conveyed the commander's order to the lookout even though he couldn't figure it out. However, he had to find out privately why the Europeans had to bow to the Ottomans.

"...William, you have to understand that Europe and the Ottoman Empire are allies now, and we shouldn't intensify conflicts over trivial matters such as who gets through first. Besides, this is the Ottoman capital, do you think it makes sense to stick to European navigation practices?"

Seeing William's indignant expression, Cohen's mouth was full of bitterness. He understood what William was thinking, and in fact, this was also the thinking of most Europeans. Christians and Muslims had been fighting for hundreds of years, and the hatred between them could no longer be explained by specific reasons, but had become a culture.

European children have been using wooden swords to chop dummies since they were a few years old, and most of these dummies are made to look like Muslims. Similarly, when Muslims think of pagans, the first thing they think of is Christians.

However, the huge benefits suddenly made the two ethnic groups that had been hostile to each other for centuries become allies on the battlefield. The degree of their solidity can be imagined. No theoretical analysis is needed, just look at the expressions of William and the sailors to get the accurate answer.

When the European and Ottoman armies joined forces to fight the enemy on the battlefield, whenever they encountered a little difficulty, the most likely thing that would happen was not to compensate each other, but to abandon each other or even secretly harm each other.

Even if the commanders of both armies were broad-minded and willing to temporarily put aside hostility for the common good, would the officers and soldiers below also have the same understanding? It wouldn't take many. If there were three Williams in a company, something would go wrong, not to mention that most of them were Williams.

As the fleet gradually slowed down and moved to the far right side of the channel, a fleet flying the Ottoman flag came along the main channel from north to south. Since this was the narrowest part of the main channel, the two fleets were only 200 meters apart, and the people standing on the opposite deck could be seen clearly without a telescope. "Look, it's the Ottoman army!" William's loud voice was the first to sound, as if no one else had eyes or telescopes except him.

"It's the Guards." But it must be said that William was right. Cohen held up the telescope and looked for a while before confirming that the deck of the opposite fleet was indeed full of Ottoman troops.

"Where are they going? Isn't the battlefield to the north?"

William did not recognize the uniform of the Guards, but he had heard of their name, and it was estimated that there were not many people in Europe who did not know them. It was this foreign army that was wreaking havoc in Hungary and Austria, constantly devouring the lives and land of Christians.

However, at this critical moment, how come such an Ottoman main force with glorious military achievements and hands stained with the blood of Christians was marching in the opposite direction of the battlefield?

"…Maybe they are withdrawing from Hungary, and they are probably going to land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. The Ming Navy currently controls the ports of Suez, Faw, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Whether it is Crimea in the north or Enniao Port in the south, the Arabian Peninsula and Persia have always been the main battlefields. Taking them is equivalent to knocking on the western gate of Asia. "

Cohen didn't know why the main Ottoman army was heading south, and he didn't know where they were going. However, he couldn't let his subordinates have any bad associations when facing their questions, so he could only make up a story on the spot.

"We controlled the city of Jerusalem, but we had to go to the more distant Crimea to fight, and then let the Ottomans who had lost Jerusalem return to Jerusalem... If possible, I hope to hang all the guys who made the battle plan!"

Even if William knew nothing about military affairs, he could hear the obvious flaws in these words. However, he did not doubt the governor's integrity, but habitually directed his criticism at the top leaders of the European coalition forces.

"I'm going to take a nap in the cabin. Don't disturb me before dinner!"

In order to stop making up lies to deceive these poor people who were forced into this situation, Cohen chose to hide away. At the same time, he really wanted to be alone and think carefully about the reasons why the Ottoman Guards Corps went south.

Landing on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean is obviously unreliable. As William said, that is the area controlled by the Republic of Venice, and it is unlikely that the Ottoman army will be sent there even if reinforcements are needed.

These two regimes, together with the Kingdom of Austria, were like enemies meeting and they were extremely jealous of each other. In fact, the European countries that were truly harmed by the Ottoman Empire were precisely these two. The others just joined in the cursing and at most joined the mercenaries and went to Hungary.

Since it was unlikely to go to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, where would the Ottoman Guards go? It must be said that the noble generals from various countries in the coalition headquarters were not all just for show. At least they did a good job in keeping secrets, and even the actual participants themselves could not know the specific troop movements.

(End of this chapter)