The Sun and the Lion

Italian travelers headed east, and the Portuguese fleet reappeared in the Indian Ocean. This time Manuel appointed Vasco da Gama as commander - because Cabral refused to sail to India again. This was his second trip to India, but compared with the last time, he had clearer information and clearer goals.

At this time, the Portuguese court had conceived a relatively complete Indian Ocean strategy. Cabral's report made Manuel believe that continuing Portugal's activities in the Indian Ocean required an aggressive attitude.

Portugal has institutionalized travel to the Indian Ocean. Regardless of whether last year's fleet returns or not, the palace will send a new fleet to the Indian Ocean. Manuel attaches great importance to this year's voyage and has prepared twenty ships for this purpose.

In addition to Vasco da Gama, who was awarded the title of "Commander of the East India Navy", the commanders of this fleet were also his two uncles, Vicente Sodre and Bruns Sodre. Together they engaged in piracy off the coast of Morocco. At the same time, in order to find more trustworthy squadron commanders, his cousin Esteban also joined them.

These twenty ships set sail from Lisbon in two batches in the spring of 1502. This difficult voyage in the Atlantic was very lucky. The fleet did not lose any ship due to bad weather, and they all assembled on the East African coast as planned.

For those heading to India, the East African coast was an unskippable transit point. All Portuguese fleets coming from the Atlantic could rest in Mozambique, and ships forced to disperse due to storms could regroup.

At the same time, the Swahili coast itself is an integral part of the Indian Ocean trade network. Each city-state is an in-depth participant in trade. Controlling a solid foothold is very conducive to Portuguese agents carrying out commercial activities here.

Da Gama did not forget the hostility and suspicion of the locals towards him when he first came here, as well as the tense negotiations between the two sides. He had lost patience with diplomacy with the infidels and had great confidence in the artillery of his fleet.

The Portuguese fleet first arrived at Sofala and Mozambique Island and struggled to acquire some gold from the local market. However, these two ports were only secondary targets. In the commander's eyes, the most critical one was the trade town of Kilwa.

Due to the port's previous indifferent attitude towards Cabral, the commander decided to line up all twenty ships under his command, hoist all the flags, and push out all the artillery mounted on the battleships.

"boom!"

The loud noise of the volleys of slingshots and the Portuguese fleet anchored in the waters outside the port shook the whole city, and the commander was sure that "all had seen the power and splendor of my great lord Manuel."

"Your Majesty..." Kilwa Sultan, who was hiding in the palace, took the letter written by the commander from the attendant and immediately opened it and looked at it.

"Vasco da Gama, Commander-in-Chief of the East Indian Navy of the Kingdom of Portugal, to the Sultan of Kilva, I command you in the name of the Almighty God and Manuel, the most noble and powerful monarch of the sea, to come to the port to see me!"

After reading this brief and strongly worded letter, the Sultan was at a loss. After some thought, he planned to escape: "If you reply to him, just say that I am ill and cannot go to the port to meet you. Please forgive me." .”

When the messenger bravely conveyed this clumsy response to the commander, he slowly shook his head: "It is really rude of the Sultan to find excuses to avoid guests who have come from afar. This is a disgrace to God." and the king’s offense.”

"Sir, you mean... we can only solve it by force now?"

Vasco da Gama did not directly respond to his subordinates' questions, but ordered: "Send military orders to other warships. The entire fleet should approach the coast and set up a position. The next round of cannonballs should not fall into the water."

"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." Under his order, the Portuguese fleet quickly moved into action. The residents and merchants of Kilwa watched the ships outside the port getting closer and closer to the coast, and then associated them with the last bombardment. It's not hard to see what happens next.

This caused great panic in the city, and many wealthy businessmen and prominent social figures quickly came to the palace to offer their condolences, hoping that the Sultan could actively resolve this imminent crisis.

The Sultan of Kilwa turned his eyes away from the crowd below in disgust, raised his head and looked at the fleet that had been deployed in the distance, observing carefully: "Twenty ships, more than last time..."

However, the commander did not give the order to fire, but sent people to land. A total of 350 well-equipped Portuguese soldiers set foot on this land in small boats with matchlocks and revolving guns.

"Dear Sultan, those Franks have come ashore, do you want to send troops to expel them..." The close associate who suggested on the side was directly interrupted by the Sultan: "Idiot, when the time comes to fight, use your body to block the large bronze ship on their ship. tube!"

In the end, the Sultan chose to succumb to the power of the Portuguese and took the initiative to bring his entourage to the port that was already controlled by Portuguese soldiers: "I am the Sultan of Kilwa. Stop it. Go back and inform your master! "

The commander laughed in front of the messenger who came to report: "Haha. Looking for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com This is really a cheap guy, just scare him."

Then he also came to the port in a small boat and met with the Sultan of Kilwa.

Da Gama did not give the Sultan a chance to speak, but threatened through the interpreter: "As you can see, I am the slave of my lord, and I have his authorization. All the Portuguese and warships you can see." They will all obey my orders. I think you have seen the previous bombardment. As long as I think about it, the so-called prosperous city under your rule will be reduced to a pile of rubble before sunset, and your people will be completely slaughtered by my lord's army. Almost exhausted.”

Seeing that the Sultan was still hesitating, he then added: "If you still choose to continue to resist after knowing the outcome, then I will be happy to send all the soldiers who are loyal to you to hell. I will also capture you with my own hands and twist your ears. Take you to the beach and put the strongest shackles on you, and then you will be used as an exhibit to make the entire Indian Ocean realize the folly of being an enemy of Portugal!"

The Sultan immediately knelt down and surrendered: "I have seen the power of your country and your army. In order to protect the people, I decided to agree to all your demands."

The commander then made specific demands - Portugal obtained trade rights in Kilwa, Kilwa paid tribute to the Portuguese court every year, and the Sultan must raise the royal flag to express submission to the suzerainty of the Portuguese king.

After the diplomatic victory at Kilwa, Vasco da Gama asked the Sultan to hold a grand celebration to commemorate the event, and the first tribute to the Portuguese court was collected at this time. The entire celebration was filled with loud drumming and all the Portuguese present cheered. A group of local people were even organized out of fear and shouted on the beach: "Long live Portugal!"

No locals were enjoying the absurd celebration.