Target! Indian Ocean!

(0838)

The spring of the eighth year of Taichang arrived in Nanyang soon. (_　　　)

Flashes of soft sea breeze blew across the sea, causing layers of ripples.

At this time, the ports in Nanyang seemed to be like summer, and there was a lot of heat everywhere. A large number of merchant ships lined up to enter the port to unload the goods, while the merchant ships leaving the port pressed the waterline very low, and it was conceivable how much cargo was loaded. However, the sailors on the merchant ship seemed very optimistic and did not worry at all that the ship would sink.

For the vast majority of merchant ship owners, the storm of nature is not the most terrifying. The most terrifying thing is the enemy's warships and pirate attacks. But now, these two most dangerous things no longer exist. All armed merchant ships have removed armed forces such as cannons, with the purpose of loading more goods.

After successfully expelling the Dutch, the sea in the South China Sea returned to peace. In addition to the occasional patrolling white-clad naval warships, pirates were absolutely unable to see the warships of other countries. Generally speaking, if there is no need, the warships of the white-clad naval rarely appear.

The Spanish, Portuguese and French all tactfully transferred all their warships back to their home countries. The White-Clothed Navy is already an invincible existence in the South China Sea, and their warships will continue to stay in the South China Sea Sea without any meaning. Instead of leaving the warships and making the White-Clothed Army feel a grudge, it is better to automatically and consciously eliminate this grudge.

Now Nanyang is a completely free trade port. All ports are open to legal merchant ship owners. The core of the strategy of the White Army in Nanyang is free trade, and everyone has equal power and obligations. As long as they abide by the relevant laws of the White Army, no matter which country's merchant ship is, they can freely drive their own power.

Specifically, any legal trade behavior of merchant ships will be protected by law. Whether it is the merchant ship of the Ming Empire or the merchant ships of other countries, they can ask for help from the White Army Navy when they encounter danger. The White Army Navy will be treated equally. Of course, on the other hand, any illegal acts will be severely punished.

A good trade environment effectively promoted maritime trade in the Nanyang region. In the original Nanyang region, several powerful people acted independently, opposed each other, curbed each other, and seriously damaged the trade environment. There were also pirates supported by various countries that caused trouble, resulting in the merchant ships coming and going, and the risks were extremely high. All of this seriously restricted the development of maritime trade in the Nanyang region. Now, the white-clothed army eliminated all risks, and maritime trade immediately exploded.

In just one year, the maritime trade volume in the Nanyang region doubled compared with the original one. Merchant ships departed from various ports in the Nanyang region went to the Ming Empire, Taiwan, Japan, North Korea and other places, creating a large amount of profits between the round trips. Through a group of merchant fleets, the Nanyang region was successfully closely linked to the Ming Empire.

There are also some ocean-going merchant ships who follow the Kuroshima route to the American continent. According to the agreement reached between the Ming Empire and Spain, Spanish merchant ships enjoy the same power as the Ming Empire merchant ships on the South China Sea. In exchange, on the American continent, Ming Empire merchant ships can also enjoy the same conditions as Spanish merchant ships. All of this provides strong help for the Ming Empire merchant ships to enter the American continent. Those super-large merchant ships earn more profits when traveling to and from the east and west coasts of the Pacific Ocean. Of course, they encounter great risks.

Fortunately, the White Army has always been understanding. The White Army has made sufficient preparations for the risks that the Ming Empire merchant ships could encounter when they travel to the American continent. The eliminated Sun and Moon guns were sold at a low price to various merchant ship owners as a helper for landing on the American continent. In many cases, the White Army simply gave Sun and Moon guns and supporting ammunition for free, allowing the armed merchant ship owners to fan the flames everywhere in the American continent and gain a foothold.

Compared with the small foot basin on the Nanyang sea surface, the American continent is the real place of wealth concentration. Although the American continent has been taken advantage of by Western powers and has divided the sphere of influence first. However, the emergence of the White-Clothed Army has brought about huge changes in the history of the American continent. There is no doubt that the White-Clothed Army must definitely seek corresponding benefits on the American continent.

At that time, the main control area of ​​the Western powers was the east and west areas of the American continent, and there was no force to control it yet. The armed merchant ships under the control of the White-Clothed Army established strongholds at various ports in the western part of the American continent. All the strongholds were connected together, almost equivalent to the entire Pacific Ocean becoming the inland sea of ​​the White-Clothed Army.

Of course, it is still difficult for the White-Clothed Army to completely control the American continent. With the current capabilities of the White-Clothed Army Navy, it is still impossible to deploy a battalion's army forces to the American continent as a whole, and ensure the long-term combat needs of this battalion. Therefore, it can only adopt the method of moving ants and continuously penetrate the west coast of the American continent through civilian methods.

In fact, with the help of the Sun and Moon Gun, armed merchant ships from the civilians developed quite rapidly on the American continent. Local indigenous people, using scimitar bows and arrows, are naturally not the opponents of rifled rifles. Often, a large merchant ship equipped with 500 Sun and Moon Guns and carrying a sufficient amount of ammunition, can establish and control a small stronghold. Even if the local indigenous people continue to launch attacks, they cannot clear the strongholds.

At the beginning, when Xu Xingxia founded the White Army, he promised his subordinates a five-year military service system. After the overall situation was basically stable, he determined the five-year military service as laws and regulations. In other words, as long as he served for five years, he had the right to apply for retirement. By the third year of Taichang, many officers and soldiers had already met this condition. Therefore, some officers and soldiers chose to retire. As time went by, more and more officers and soldiers retired.

These retired white-clothed officers and soldiers have accumulated more or less wealth in the army. If they are active in the war and perform well, they should accumulate more wealth. Basically, there is definitely no problem in the three or five years after retirement. However, it is absolutely unrealistic to rely on the wealth accumulated in the past to live a lifetime. Therefore, they must find other ways to find ways to make a living.

However, many white-clothed soldiers basically do not have any other skills except for fighting and killing people. What can they do after retirement? The best choice is of course to be mercenaries. The only purpose of mercenaries is to kill people in war. The development of the American continent requires a large number of armed merchant ships and a large number of mercenaries, which just meet the needs of this market. So, the two hit it off, and many professional mercenaries came into being.

Between the three years of Taichang and the eight years of Taichang, how many retired white-clothed soldiers joined the mercenaries through various different channels? It is estimated that Xu Xingxia could not count. It is conservatively estimated that there will be no less than 50,000 people. These 50,000 mercenaries are basically active in the American continent. It is conceivable what they will bring to the American continent.

...

In March of the eighth year of Taichang, a large number of warships gathered at the port of Balinbang. Each warship was hung with the flag of the White-Clothed Navy. Among them, the largest warship had a displacement of nearly 2,000 tons. After the battle with the Dutch, the White-Clothed Navy rarely assembled so many warships. Therefore, some people who care about the current situation were secretly guessing what the White-Clothed Navy was going to do.

The Spanish and the Portuguese were both secretly worried, thinking that the White Army was going to turn against them. What they were most worried about was this result. If the White Army navy drove them out of the South China Sea, they would have no way to do it. Fortunately, later, news came that the White Army navy was just going to organize a mixed fleet and head to the Indian Ocean. After the news was repeatedly confirmed, the hearts of all forces gradually let go.

In fact, the White-Clothed Navy does organize a mixed fleet to head to the Indian Ocean. The South Ocean sea has been completely stable, and the White-Clothed Navy does not need to be stationed here for a long time. It should set out toward the farther sea. After training in the South Ocean sea, the White-Clothed Navy has accumulated a certain amount of experience and can undertake heavier tasks.

After two months of preparation, on June 6, the eighth year of Taichang, the mixed fleet of the white-clothed naval fleet officially set off from the port of Balinbang to the Indian Ocean. This was a huge mixed fleet, with a total of more than 30 warships and more than 30 large merchant ships. After half a month of continuous sailing, they finally entered the Indian Ocean waters.

This was after Zheng He's fleet, the Han people appeared again on the Indian Ocean sea.

Chen Zhan, the commander in charge of leading the mixed fleet, wrote a brilliant stroke in his sailing diary that day. This time he was able to lead the mixed fleet to the Indian Ocean, but Xu Xingxia personally ordered the general. Although Xu Xingxia did not come to Balin to see him off in person, he sent someone to send a handwritten letter to give full encouragement to the mixed fleet to the Indian Ocean. Therefore, Chen Zhan did not dare to slack off his own tasks.

Chen Zhan’s biggest feature is that he is good at summarizing experience. He has a good cultural foundation and is quick to understand new things. His ideas and concepts are also quite flexible and never stick to the rules. Under Chen Zhan’s leadership, the Fourth Fleet may not have the strongest combat power, but the fastest acceptance of new things.

The mixed fleet of white-clothed army heading to the Indian Ocean this time was actually centered on the Fourth Fleet. In addition to more than 30 warships, there were more than 30 large merchant ships. In addition to carrying necessary maritime supplies, these large merchant ships also carried a large group of white-clothed marines. They were armed to the teeth.

In the seventh year of Taichang, the White Marine Corps was officially formed. According to the military order signed by Xu Xingxia, the Marine Corps was the top military and directly accepted the command of Xu Xingxia. There is no mutual affiliation between the Marine Corps and the Navy. In other words, the Marine Corps does not need to accept the command of the Navy, but only cooperates with the Navy to fight together.

This emerging unit has a total of three battalions, namely Shark Battalion, Sword Fish Battalion and Flying Fish Battalion. The standard organization of each battalion is about 8,000 people. With the auxiliary troops, the total strength is more than 10,000. In fact, due to different combat needs, the Marine Corps will be very flexible and may be changed at any time.

However, at the beginning of the eighth year of Taichang, except for the Shark Battalion basically full, the other two battalions were just empty for the time being. It was not that Xu Xingxia had no money, but that there were no corresponding talents. The formation of the Marine Corps was much more complicated than the Army. He had to wait until a group of officers and soldiers of the Shark Battalion accumulated experience before he could effectively expand his army.

The goal of the hybrid fleet's maiden voyage is Ceylon, which is later Sri Lanka.

This is the key to the Indian Ocean entering the Pacific. As long as it is a normal sailing ship, it will dock at the Port of Ceylon if it enters the Pacific from the Indian Ocean. On the other hand, this is also the key to the Port of Ceylon after entering the Indian Ocean. Ships from the Pacific also need to dock at the Port of Ceylon after entering the Indian Ocean, rest sailors, replenish fresh water, and repair ships.

This point has not changed significantly even after four hundred years. In the era of nuclear-powered warships, if conditions permit, warships passing by will still choose to stay in Sri Lanka for a short time. For example, some warships in the United States often dock in Sri Lanka. As for ordinary ships, they dock more times.

Ceylon was in control of Portugal at that time.

The Portuguese representative in Ceylon is a small person at the level of directors.

Obviously, the Portuguese did not pay much attention to Ceylon itself. The main reason was that Ceylon itself had no valuable resources. The most valuable "spices" in the Eastern world did not exist in Ceylon Island at all. In the world at that time, the purpose of navigation was to make money. For areas without money-making projects, they would definitely not pay attention to it.

Due to its weak naval strength, Portugal implemented a free and open policy in Ceylon. The Port of Ceylon itself has no defense, no warships, no turrets, no garrisons, and only a very small number of armed personnel who maintain local public order. As long as a certain fee is paid, all ships, including warships, can be freely docked at Port of Ceylon. The sailors go ashore to rest, replenish fresh water and food, repair ships, and do whatever they want.

It is precisely because of the open and free policy that no attacks were attracted by other powers.

The concept of maritime power at that time had not been formally formed. Even the Western powers only realized that the ocean could bring wealth. However, there was no clear understanding of the control of the key points of the ocean. To be precise, there was no clear concept of maritime hegemony in their minds. If it were hundreds of years later, after Ma Han proposed the "On the Sea Power", the status of Ceylon Port would be very popular. It is estimated that the major powers would be defeated.

The White-Clothed Navy just happened to effectively control Ceylon Port before they could react. The Western powers did not understand the theory of maritime power, but Xu Xingxia himself knew very well. He started to take the initiative first, but then he suffered! This was a crucial step for the White-Clothed Navy to enter and exit the Indian Ocean and the army attacking the Mughal dynasty.

To the north of Ceylon Island is the Mughal dynasty of ancient India.

The Mughal dynasty at that time was still relatively powerful. Well, to be precise, it was relatively powerful in South Asia. After more than a hundred years of development, the Mughal dynasty had completely ruled the South Asian continent. Its previous emperor was Emperor Akbar. This person was very famous in the history of India. After Akbar's death, Jahangir succeeded to the throne. This person's talent was not very good, he was not enterprising enough, and he could still maintain his achievements.

The basic strategy of the White Army was to first control the various ports of the Mughals and then control most of the coastlines of the Mughals. Finally, a certain scale of army was used to launch a fatal blow to the Mughals. The task of the White Army's naval hybrid fleet was to find a suitable breakthrough and hit a nail firmly in.

The most important port of the Mughal dynasty was of course Kalihet. At first, the Portuguese came to the coastal areas of India and discovered the value of Kalihet at a glance. They immediately built a port in the local area, stationed soldiers, built forts, and turned it into a stronghold in Portugal. But later, when the Spanish arrived, this stronghold was controlled by the Spanish. Later, the Dutch rose, and Kalihet was controlled by the Dutch.

No wonder the Western powers attach so much importance to Kalihet. It is really very important for Kalihet's strategic position. It is one of the most important ports in the eastern Indian Ocean. How important is it? It is indispensable! If the Kalihet port cannot be successfully controlled, the difficulty and cost of merchant ships traveling to the Indian Ocean will be greatly increased.

In an era when scurvy has not been completely prevented, all sea boats must travel along the land as much as possible so that they can dock at any time. Once the sailing time is too long, sailors will be infected with scurvy, and only by docking can it be solved. In the northern part of the Indian Ocean, the sea surface is vast and there are not many islands to dock at all.

The northern part of the Indian Ocean is very wide and very large. Socotra in the west is a large island. Kalihet in the east is the closest port to Socotra. Whether it is the wind direction or the ocean current, the two are closely linked. From Socotra to Kalihet, it is definitely the most convenient, safest and lowest-cost route.

To control the Indian Ocean, Kalihet and Socotra are two indispensable strongholds.

At present, the Dutch still had a considerable number of troops in Kalihet. After the Dutch lost the interests of the Nanyang region, they used Kalihet as the base camp to protect the interests of the East and continued to stay. The Dutch warships and merchant ships that escaped from the Nanyang region were all gathered in Kalihet. Of course, they would not be willing to fail. They also tried to use Kalihet as a bridgehead to accumulate strength and prepare to launch a counterattack against the White Army.

According to the White Army's intelligence department, the Dutch stationed more than 5,000 troops in Kalihet. In terms of the number of armed sailors stationed, Kalihet is comparable to Jakarta. However, the number of various warships is somewhat inferior. The Dutch gathered in Kalihet, only a dozen warships.

Chen Zhan had thirty large warships in his hands. Howitzers that could fire at the same time were more than 150. Such strong maritime power was enough to attack Kaliheit. However, Chen Zhan was not in a hurry. He had time.

Kalihet is not the ultimate goal, the Mughal dynasty is the ultimate goal.

The White Army accumulated strength in the Indian Ocean, with the purpose of attacking the Mughal Dynasty.

.Xu Xingxia has been coveting South Asia for a long time. He is not interested in the indigenous people here, and is very interested in the various resources here. The cotton produced in India is quite famous. If the White Army needs a large colony, India is the best choice. India's cotton production can completely meet the needs of the entire East.

Although the emergence of Xu Xingxia and the process of the industrial revolution has been broken, the demand for cotton is increasing day by day. The textile industry in the Jiangnan region of the Ming Empire was very developed. The largest cotton spinning mill already has thousands of spinning machines and looms, with more than 5,000 employees. Especially the Songjiang Prefecture area, it is simply the base camp of the textile industry. The cotton output in the Central Plains obviously cannot meet the needs of the market.

The latest improved Jenny spinning machine has increased the spinning efficiency by more than 80 times. No matter how much cotton is there, it is not enough for Jenny spinning machine to consume. The large-scale application of Jenny spinning machine not only improves production efficiency, but also greatly reduces the cost of cotton cloth, greatly increases the output of cotton cloth, and accelerates the popularity of cotton cloth. As long as there is enough cotton, people across the country and even the world can enjoy cheap cotton cloth.

For the White Army, the dumping of a large amount of cotton cloth will certainly bring considerable profits. Originally, the Ming Empire was the world's trading center, glass, silk, tea, porcelain and other goods, which were basically huge profits. If a cotton cloth was added, it would be even more amazing. This was very helpful for the White Army to control markets around the world.

...

There are actually many good ports near Ceylon Port. For example, Galle in the south can be expanded into a huge port. Chen Zhan has sufficient reason to believe that as long as the Galle Port is slightly built, there will be enough berths to dock with large warships and merchant ships. Even if there are many merchant ships, they can dock successfully in Galle Port.

After Chen Zhan carefully inspected the Galle Port, he wrote a detailed report and delivered it directly to Chen Xinhai, deputy commander of the Navy. After Chen Xinhai received the report, he soon sent someone to send it to Xu Xingxia, who was still in Leizhou Prefecture. Xu Xingxia immediately approved it.

Soon, multiple squadrons of the White Navy escorted a large number of merchant ships to Galle Port. These merchant ships transported a large amount of cement and steel bars. In addition to the sand and gravel collected locally, reinforced concrete naturally no problem. After countless reinforced concrete was poured down, the appearance of Galle Port had undergone fundamental changes.

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Chapter completed!