The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 49 Madagascar and the Cape of Good Hope

The core fleet of the Ming Dynasty left the mouth of the Yangtze River and joined the main fleet of the Left Army Governor's Office in Zhoushan.

The fleet rode the winter monsoon southward and joined the fleet of the Ming Dynasty's Front Army Governor's Office in Malacca.

The huge fleet of more than 380 warships and merchant ships was finally assembled.

If a regular merchant ship goes out to sea, it usually sails northwest here, passes through the Strait of Malacca and enters the Indian Ocean.

Then it sails westward on the Indian Ocean monsoon current, through the Arabian Sea and into the east coast of Africa.

It is also the most typical Indian Ocean shipping route, and most commercial ships pass through here.

But that sea is the Arabian Sea, controlled by the Omanis.

The Ming fleet's trip was not for trade, but also to avoid the Omanis and other surrounding maritime forces.

Therefore, the Ming fleet continued to sail southeast from Malacca and met up with the armed immigration fleet of the "Falkland Islands Vanguard" prepared by the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty at the Old Port.

The Madagascar Island here refers to the island of Madagascar.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty asked the Crown Prince to plan a plan to seize the east coast of Africa. The Crown Prince's suggestion was to temporarily avoid the frontal attack of the Omanis.

First, establish a colony in Madagascar where there are no European and Arab forces.

Using Madagascar as a fulcrum, Japan gradually encroached on the Portuguese colonies in Southeast Africa and seized Zanzibar and Mombasa controlled by the Omanis.

Eventually captured the Dutch Cape Colony at the Cape of Good Hope.

The purpose of the Ming Emperor to open up colonies in Africa was to facilitate travel to the east coast of America.

The best route was not the traditional Indian Ocean trade route, but to go through the Sunda Strait, go through Madagascar, and then pass the Cape of Good Hope.

So the prince's plan was adopted directly.

It was decided to cooperate with the North American Fleet and the Expeditionary Force, and at the same time begin preparations for development.

The Ming Dynasty's large fleet passed through the Sunda Strait between Jiugang and Java Island and sailed into the Indian Ocean in a mighty manner.

Then sail southwest along the South Equatorial Current, and soon turn into the Madagascar Current and head directly towards Madagascar.

About 650 kilometers east of central Madagascar, there are several small islands controlled by the French.

The two largest ones are French Reunion and Île-de-France.

In the history of Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, the French Island was later seized by the British and renamed Mauritius.

Reunion became a French department in the late 20th century.

After the Ming Dynasty formed an alliance with the French, it began to use this route to transport supplies to Reunion and the Île-de-France during the months of preparation for war.

After the Ming Dynasty's large fleet arrived here, they directly replenished supplies here.

After setting sail again, we sailed to the southern tip of Madagascar, leaving the island's vanguard immigration ship here.

Most of the supplies prepared in Reunion and Île-de-France were left to the vanguard immigrants in the Falkland Islands.

The Ming Dynasty's large fleet continued to sail towards the southernmost tip of Africa, the dividing line between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, which was called the Cape of Good Hope by Ming Dynasty merchants.

On the routes before this, the Ming fleet basically did not encounter merchant ships from other countries, nor did it cause much panic.

But when they reached the Cape of Good Hope, the Ming fleet could no longer be concealed.

The Cape of Good Hope is known for strong winds and rough seas, and the key point is that the winds drift southwards, and the westerly winds become stronger the further south you go.

If you want to pass the Cape of Good Hope from east to west, you have to sail as close to the continent as possible.

So there is a high concentration of merchant ships here.

The Ming fleet had no way to force its way around and soon encountered the Dutch patrol fleet.

The lookout of the Dutch patrol team was so frightened by the boundless Ming fleet through the telescope that he almost fell off the observation deck.

The relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands is rather complicated.

When the Dutch were at their most prosperous, their merchant fleet was the largest in the world. They were known as the Coachmen of the Sea and had colonies all over the world.

The Dutch made a fortune from global maritime trade.

The process of the Dutch's decline seemed to be the process of the Ming Dynasty paying more and more attention to the ocean. All the Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia were slowly seized by the Ming people, but the Ming people continued to trade with the Dutch.

The Dutch were also able to continue to earn hard-earned money from trade between the East and the West and maintain the East India Company and the Republic.

So the Netherlands and the Ming Dynasty remained partners.

But the Dutch were always wary of the Ming people. The Ming people had already occupied Burma and Andaman, and it was unknown when they would set their sights on Ceylon.

Fortunately, in the past few decades, the people of the Ming Dynasty have been concentrating on developing Southeast Asia and have not interfered in the situation on the other side of the ocean.

On the surface, the relationship between the two sides is still relatively harmonious.

But at this time, the Ming Dynasty's large fleet suddenly appeared in Cape Town, which made the Dutch captain have the worst premonition.

Would the Ming Dynasty skip Ceylon and directly cross the sea to seize Cape Town?
The Dutch once occupied Java Island for a long time and were very familiar with the route from Java to the Cape of Good Hope.

However, the Ming fleet had already begun sending flag signals to express very simple goodwill to the Omani patrol fleet.

The communications staff here quickly interpreted it:

"The Ming Emperor is going to do business in Europe and North America and hopes to resupply and trade with the Dutch in Cape Town."

On the entire African continent, apart from Mombasa and Zanzibar in the middle of the east coast, the two richest places on the east coast of Africa, the place that Ming Dynasty most wants is Cape Town.

In fact, the Ming fleet deliberately and high-profile applied for supplies in Cape Town in accordance with the requirements of the General Staff.

The General Staff believed that it was basically impossible to avoid the Dutch in Cape Town in this operation, so it would be better to deal with them directly.

The Ming Dynasty’s official large fleet had never come before, and its sudden appearance would make the Dutch very nervous.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty planned to take advantage of the opportunities of traveling to North America in the next few years to reduce the Dutch's sensitivity to the Ming Dynasty's large fleet.

After the Dutch got used to it, the Ming Dynasty's attack was more sudden.

The Dutch patrol officer was stunned after receiving the news:

Doing business? Are you in the Ming Dynasty used to organizing nearly 400 large ships and using more than 60 battleships to go to other people's doorsteps to do business?

If others don't want to do business with you, will you just transform into Eastern pirates?
"God bless you, I hope you are telling the truth..."

The Dutch officer was a little bit unbelieving.

But the Ming Dynasty was indeed communicating and did not take a hostile stance as if preparing for war.

The two sides have not had any conflict for decades.

So the Dutch officers divided the patrol fleet into two parts, one part guided the Ming fleet and slowly sailed towards Cape Town.

Another group of clippers returned to Cape Town first to report their discoveries to the Governor.

The Governor of Cape Town was also shocked when he received the news.

The Dutch were well aware of the strength of the Ming navy, which was now second only to the British navy in size and had the capacity to build an even larger navy.

But the Ming Navy didn't seem to be very interested in the other side of the ocean.

The Ming Dynasty navy and maritime merchants, like animals with a strong sense of territory, do not allow outsiders to occupy the land around them.

Since the middle of the Chongzhen period, the surrounding Europeans were gradually cleared out.

It's like a farmer who is watching his own one and a half acres of land, keeping a very close eye on the land in front of his house.

They slowly swallowed up most of the surrounding islands.

A large number of uninhabited jungle islands were gradually transformed into places that made European feudal nobles and directors of the East India Company jealous.

But no European dared to lay their hands on these islands.

Because the Ming Dynasty’s navy is indeed powerful, even if European countries come in full force, they may not be able to defeat them, because this is the Ming Dynasty’s doorstep.

Europeans and Arabs now feel that the Ming Navy is used to guard their own backyards.

Because there had never been a battle across the ocean before.

Now the Ming people suddenly appear in Cape Town. Could it be that they have finally set their sights on the overseas land?
(End of this chapter)