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Chapter 1355 The Suez Canal That Has Not Appeared

A huge army is marching along the coast of North Africa towards Alexandria, this army stretches for miles.

The defenders and residents of Alexandria discovered the overwhelming fleet that appeared in the outer harbor yesterday.Yesterday's bad weather prevented the fleet from landing in Alexandria, and the fleet disappeared from the outer port.

Even so, some dignitaries and defenders of Alexandria realized that war might be coming, and fled Alexandria overnight with their treasures.Ordinary residents of Alexandria City saw many dignitaries fleeing, and realized that something was wrong. Some of their smart people also escaped from Alexandria City.

When Sun Chuanting led an Egyptian expeditionary force of more than 1 people into Alexandria, half of the people inside had already fled, and some people were hiding.

They encountered little decent resistance.

There were less than 500 defenders in the declining city of Alexandria, and the officers fled with some of their own soldiers ahead of time, leaving only less than 300 defenders still here.These soldiers only have two ancient bronze cannons, yes, the kind of old cannons that even the Knights of the Hospital dismissed.The poorly equipped defenders even threw stones at Sun Chuanting's elite troops.

The expeditionary force occupied the harbor with a simple charge, and the soldiers who had no fighting spirit really caught it without a fight.

Occupying this ancient city, which may have a history of nearly 2000 years, the soldiers of the expeditionary army began to search for treasures in it, which was also to compensate for the expenses of the expeditionary army.

"Alexandria is not as prosperous as imagined. It seems that it is indeed a declining seaport. It should have been a very prosperous place a long time ago. It may be an earthquake, or it may be a war that made it decline." Sun Chuanting landed in Alexandria in the fortress.

The fort extending from the city of Alexandria is like a lighthouse guarding the city of Alexandria, but the old artillery is also placed on it.The dilapidated cannon made Sun Chuanting not in the mood to take it as a trophy. Even if it was transported back and smelted into copper, it would be a waste of transport capacity.

From here, it can be seen that the sea surface has returned to calm, and the fleet is continuously sending artillery, military horses, food, and fresh water to the beach.

"Except for the Nile River valley, this place is mostly a desert. It's a wasteland!" The Dutch businessman Luiter followed Yuan Zheng Zhibao to the fort of Alexandria. He felt a little uncomfortable when he saw the sparse trees outside the city of Alexandria.

He had changed into the uniform of a Marine of the Fourth Fleet.

He was originally a captain of a Dutch merchant ship, but he was forcibly taken to the Mediterranean Sea by the Fourth Fleet. He had already delayed his chance to make money, so he had no choice but to continue to hang out with the Fourth Fleet.

The Fourth Fleet also wants to cultivate a group of servants who can help them fight in Europe, otherwise it will cost a lot to transfer troops from the mainland.Just like this expedition to Egypt, they only need to dispatch 2000 soldiers, and the other 14000 are from other forces.If 16000 soldiers are dispatched from the mainland, the annual military expenditure will be extremely terrible.

"So we just hit Cairo, the richest place. There are still many oases and cultivated land in the Nile River Basin, where we can find the wealth we want." Zheng Zhibao said.

"No, what we want is not wealth, we need this place." Sun Chuanting held a map in his hand.

Luyter leaned over with a cheeky face: "Master, I really can't think of anything good in Egypt besides the Nile River bringing vitality to this dry land?"

"The land of this part of Egypt cuts off the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. If ships can directly enter the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea, then sailing ships do not need to detour around the dangerous Cape of Storms in Africa. From our east to London City, we can shorten at least 5000 kilometers to Malta The island can be shortened by 8000 kilometers without passing through the equatorial windless zone, do you know what this means?" Sun Chuanting pointed to the junction of the Asian and African continents.

The famous Suez Canal in later generations has not yet appeared at this time!

"You mean to dig a grand canal to directly connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Ships from the Mediterranean Sea can enter the Indian Ocean along the canal!" Luiter quickly understood Sun Chuanting's thoughts and exclaimed.

"If a Grand Canal is dug, the time for our fleet to go to the West will be greatly reduced every year, and at the same time, a lot of trade costs will be saved." Sun Chuanting said.

"My lord, the Venetian merchants have worked hard on the idea of ​​connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. They envied Portugal and Spain to gain huge benefits from the great voyage. They once negotiated with the Mamluk Group and obtained permission to dig a canal." Luiter Said.

"The Merchant of Venice had such an idea so early on? What happened afterwards?" Sun Chuanting looked at the Venetian with admiration this time.

This small country with a core population of only 10,000+ people seems a bit powerful.

"In the past, Venice and the Ottoman Empire competed for hegemony in the Mediterranean Sea. Before the Venetians had time to dig the canal, the Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt. The Ottoman Empire was not interested in digging the Cloud Canal, or worried that the digging of the canal would benefit Venice, so Not only did they impose heavy taxes on goods passing through Egypt, but they also refused to negotiate with the Venetians on the excavation of the canal. The Venetians had no choice but to give up this plan.” Knowing the reasons, Luiter explained the complicated situation to Sun Chuanting and others inside story.

It's hard to imagine what the Mediterranean would have been like if the Venetians had successfully dug the Grand Canal.

Sun Chuanting sighed: "It turned out that the Venetian merchants had long intended to dig the Grand Canal. No wonder they were very interested in conquering Egypt and sent so many soldiers. If they occupied Egypt, they could conscript Egyptians to build the canal. Their merchant ships would have access to direct trade with the East along the canal, avoiding the heavy taxes of the Ottoman Empire."

"If the Venetians are allowed to dig the canal first, they will set up checkpoints and tax the ships passing through the canal. So we must be ahead of the curve." Luiter said worriedly.

"It may not be a bad thing for the Venetians to dig canals..." Sun Chuanting thought for a while.

"Why? Ah, I see. It takes a lot of gold and silver to dig a canal, and a lot of workers need to be sacrificed. If the Venetians spare no effort to complete this matter, we can take the canal with our fleet. At that time, the Venetians will have no money, no canals, and a lot of infamy..." Luyter showed a suddenly realized expression.

"You kid has a bad stomach, so you are suitable to stay in our Fourth Fleet." Zheng Zhibao heard the conversation between Luit and Sun Chuanting, and patted Luit on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)