Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 227 Target: Port of Suez ([-])

The Red Sea area in late May is already a bit hot.After leaving the coast of Djibouti, the exploration fleet headed north along the Red Sea, all the way calm.

On June 6, the two ships sailed to the waters only tens of nautical miles away from the port of Suez in the Ottoman Empire.At this time, four Ottoman naval ships flying the Xingyue flag surrounded them.The four ships were small, two of which were small traditional Arabian schooners and two square sailing ships that appeared to be modeled after European galleons.The largest tonnage seems to be no more than 5 tons, and the firearms on board are even weaker, with only a few 6-pound and 8-pound bronze guns.

Compared with the battleship "Free Trade" with a standard displacement of 925 tons and the huge combat power of 66 all-steel artillery, these ships of the Ottoman Navy are really weak, even the "Galicia Flying Fish" used as a transport ship All bigger than their ships.However, Guo Zili and the others did not dare to neglect. They did not come to fight against the Ottoman Navy. On the contrary, they came here to discuss business with friendly sincerity.

Therefore, Guo Zili quickly dispatched his adjutant to fly towards the Ottoman warship in a small boat with a white flag, and handed over the port entry permit handed over to them by the Hornician family before departure. Documents, and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the East Coast Republic of China to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottomans had apparently been instructed in advance. Second Lieutenant Ji Wen brought a Tatan sailor who could speak Turkish to negotiate with them, and after handing over an expensive meeting gift, the Ottomans finally recognized the Eastern China Republic. The Navy explored the identity of the fleet and officially accepted their application for port entry.

In the afternoon, the fleet moored in the port of Suez.At this time, the Port of Suez was far from the prosperity after the opening of the canal in the later generations. The scattered coastal defense forts on the pier, the mixed civil and engineering buildings in twos and threes, and the seemingly small population all remind outsiders that there is still a lot of people here. Just a small town, a small port.

In addition to more than two dozen Ottoman naval vessels in the port, there are only some fishing boats of local residents left.From the critical eyes of the sailors of the Eastern Republic Navy, most of these Ottoman Navy ships are not qualified to go to the battle line to fight decisive battles with enemy ships. Pirate ships are pretty badass—of course, maybe Red Sea pirate ships are even worse.

Frankly speaking, although the Port of Suez at this time was a military port of the Ottoman Empire, its attention was far inferior to those ports along the Black Sea and Aegean Sea of ​​the Ottoman Empire, and even the ports in North Africa such as Tripoli and Algiers. Both were more valued than the port of Suez - because they faced the threat of a pagan state.Perhaps only when the Sultan decided to launch a war against the Persians would he think that he still had a military port in the Gulf of Suez on the shore of the Red Sea.

In fact, apart from pirates, the main combat targets of the Ottoman Navy stationed in the Port of Suez were really heretic Persians who believed in Shiites.Of course, they were only in a subordinate position when fighting the Persians-in the Indian Ocean, the Ottoman Empire had a more powerful naval base in the port of Basra.Only when His Majesty the Sultan needs to send envoys to India, Abyssinia, Somalia and other places, will they have the opportunity to go to sea to declare the glory of the empire.

After Guo Zili arranged everything and told the officers in all positions not to take it lightly, he took some entourage and translators, went ashore with the naval officers of the Ottoman Empire, and entered the small city of Suez.In the city, the representatives of the Hornesian family and the special envoy of the Egyptian pasha had been waiting here for nearly two months, and they were eager to have a detailed discussion with the visiting representatives of the East Coast people.Of course, the leader of the local Mamluk feudal lord is also interested in meeting the people on the east coast.

Since the Turks defeated the once invincible Mamluk army in the last century and ended their rule over Egypt, the Mamluk military group has not disappeared from the power pyramid of Egypt since then.In fact, the Turks' rule over Egypt was not very strict. Except for cities such as Cairo and Alexandria, they did not directly rule other places.To be precise, for the vast Egyptian region, the Ottomans only cared about slaves and taxes.The vast rural areas were still in the hands of the Mamluk feudal lords, but they now had a different boss—the Ottoman Turkish sultan.

It can be seen that the Ottomans still attach great importance to the visit of the Navy of the East Coast Republic, which can be seen from the dinner they arranged.Although the Port of Suez is just a small seaport that is not rich, the local owner still tried his best to prepare a sumptuous dinner: sea bream, grouper, tuna, mackerel and other seafood; grilled camel meat with honey , and roasted whole lamb stuffed with various dried fruits.

The fragrant dinner was enjoyed by both guests and hosts.After the dinner was over, the slaves brought some tea drinks from the East. At this time, it was usually time to start discussing business matters.

Due to the presence of Anthony, the special envoy of the Egyptian Pasha, the local Mamluk chiefs and naval officers had no room to intervene. Only the representative of the Hornician family, Victor, a young man from Armenia, was able to occasionally say a few words.

Anthony, the special envoy of the Egyptian pasha, was a Greek who could speak Spanish and French fluently, so there was no language barrier in the conversation between the two parties.

"Dear guests from the east coast, after a period of frank conversation, I think we can get to the point." Anthony put down the teacup in his hand, and said first: "Frankly speaking, in the second half of last year, you people from the east coast were in Smarck. The performance there is outstanding. The cotton cloth, woolen cloth, and leather goods you bring are comparable to the British, Dutch, and Venetian goods that have flowed into our country in recent years. I think you will receive large orders soon. Of course, you and I both understand that this is not the focus of our discussion today. There is only one focus of our discussion, and that is military cooperation. To be more precise, we need a large amount of army and naval equipment."

"Wait, you mentioned naval equipment just now?" Guo Zili asked with some doubts, "Forgive me for taking the liberty, but I was not informed in advance that your country needs our naval equipment."

"Now you know." Anthony emphasized his tone, and said without doubt: "Navy equipment is also very important. Not only the Egyptian Pasha, but even in Istanbul, there are many people who are silently watching our discussions. .The Ottoman Empire needed a strong navy, and the basis of a strong navy is an advanced warship. Listen to me, people of the East Coast. Today the Spaniards, Venetians, Dutch, and English are not friendly to us, and they forbid Any advances in shipbuilding that flow into the world of war. While our valiant navy is not at a disadvantage in the Mediterranean against the enemy, anyone who is not yet blind can see that the ships of the Ottoman navy are Those Western pagans have gradually begun to have a big gap. Our Navy Pasha (Kaptan Pasha) reported to His Majesty the Sultan that the ships departing from Algiers encountered British ships in the North Atlantic In terms of wind and wave resistance, maneuverability, speed, armor, firepower, etc., our ships are completely at a disadvantage. Therefore, we need more advanced warships! And this is what Lord Pasha of the Navy means! People, now you can tell me, can you meet our request?"

"Sorry, I'm not authorized to answer such a sensitive question." Guo Zili was a little caught off guard, so he replied noncommittally, but he quickly asked again: "Is this an additional agreement? If we don't agree on the naval agreement , will it affect the agreement we have reached on the commercial side?"

"Of course not." Anthony said as a matter of course, then he blinked, looked at Guo Zili and said: "But I am sure this will affect our friendship, especially the Lord Pasha of Egypt and the Lord Pasha of the Navy. The perception of your country will drop sharply, and maybe this will cause some unforeseen things."

Guo Zili was at a loss for words for a while.The meaning of this special envoy is already very clear. Even if you people from the east coast can handle some upper-level figures of the empire and can squeeze goods into this supermarket with a population of more than 3000 million, if you can’t meet the requirements of the navy and the governor of Egypt, things will still happen. There may be changes, at least the route to the port of Suez in Egypt may not be so smooth.

What a headache!Guo Zili was a little depressed, so he had no choice but to reply perfunctorily: "Okay, I will truthfully report this news to our government. Of course, from a personal point of view, I think the Ottoman Empire, as a regional power, is fully qualified. The reason is to have a warship commensurate with your country's status."

"Very good." Anthony grinned, "Hassan, you will return to their country with the guests from the east coast in a few days. If their government approves the naval agreement between us, you will live there and supervise the new warship. People on the East Coast, now we can fulfill the commercial agreement. On behalf of Lord Pasha, I promise to your government that the trade route of the Port of Suez will be unimpeded for at least one year."

"Of order." Naval officer Hassan stood up and nodded to Special Envoy Anthony.

Guo Zili held his forehead and lamented secretly. According to the words of later generations, "I feel a little bad all over"-this Ottoman is not a fuel-efficient lamp!

(End of this chapter)