The Sun and the Lion

"Everything about the Persians is so bad."

Almeida was going to be fed up with the bad news. First, anti-Portuguese sentiment surged in Cannanol after the body of a prominent Muslim businessman was washed up on the beach. It happened that the old city owner died, and Zamorin used his influence to support a pro-Calli. Carter's new king took office and immediately mobilized local troops and citizens to besiege the Portuguese fortress.

The siege that began in the spring lasted for several months, but the support fleet that set out from Cochin was blown back by the storm. It had previously divided its forces to go to Ceylon to attack Colombo. It has not returned yet, and it is unknown whether it is a victory or a defeat.

Fortunately, the problem of Cannanor was solved by itself. Cunha's spice fleet arrived just in autumn and broke the Indian blockade. The anti-Portuguese army dispersed in a hurry. The port was not out of control, and the risk of the fortress falling was This is lifted.

But one wave came after another, and just when he was relieved, another piece of bad news came to disturb his mind.

"These Persian Muslims are really unreasonable. They drove the envoy back earlier and made wild claims that invading India was like invading Persia. Now they have sent more troops to Goa, with many ships and sailors, which has created another hidden danger for me." The deputy king and those present were The Portuguese noble looked at the map and analyzed the current situation.

Almeida then glanced at Albuquerque unkindly. He was very unhappy with this subordinate who had a tough, arrogant and arrogant attitude. What he said next was very embarrassing to him: "It turns out that I The army also stationed on Socotra Island to block shipping in the Red Sea, but the reckless battle of Aden ruined all this."

The Persians extending their lion's claws to the coast of the Red Sea was something he had not expected at all. This created many difficulties in the task of blocking the Red Sea. But in Almeida's view, the situation was tense now, and the war between Portugal and Persia was a foregone conclusion. Naturally, Socotra should not be given up.

If Albuquerque did not raid Aden, but insisted on sailing in the Gulf of Aden to attack merchant ships, it would still force the Persians to divide their forces for confrontation, and he would have time to deal with Zamorin.

Unexpectedly, Albuquerque was shameless and said to the deputy king unhurriedly: "What you said is absolutely true. I am the chief captain of the Arabian Coast appointed by your Majesty personally. I was ordered to block the Red Sea. Although I suffered a setback, I also We cannot give up easily. But at present, our department has suffered heavy losses and its morale is low, so I ask you to replenish manpower, supply and repair the ships for our department so that the department can fulfill the king's orders..."

This direct approach of reaching out to ask for personnel and supplies surprised the deputy king. He immediately said gloomily: "I heard that you and the captains under you had a conflict and accused each other. It's better to deal with this matter first. talk later."

"Your Excellency, I cannot imagine how wronged they were to threaten to abandon their superior. If they say that I mistreated them, then I beg you to put all these accusations in writing. However, no matter how threatening or contradicting the superior, it is It is a crime that cannot be forgiven. No matter how you decide to punish them, this is what they deserve." When mentioning the captains who disobeyed him, Albuquerque became angry and directly asked the deputy king to deal with it at the meeting. These senior officers violated discipline.

"We'll discuss your matters later, and I will make arrangements." Almeida then pulled back the meeting that had been diverted due to the interruption, and continued to analyze the current situation in India.

Albuquerque finally emphasized: "Your Majesty the Vice-Prince, every additional day of delay will increase the chance that the garrison on Socotra Island will be annihilated."

After some discussion, the Vice-President decided to wait and see what happened, and his strategy of requiring all ports to surrender remained unchanged. After the meeting, he left the senior officers who had fought against the Safavids to talk alone. One was Albuquerque and the other was Demoji.

"Tell me, how does this Persian warship compare to the Indian one?"

Albuquerque was the first to answer: "According to my observations in Aden, the Persian warships have roughly the same shape as our army, with Karaks and Karavels as the main force, and galleys and delta as auxiliaries. It’s just that their sailing skills are not as good as those of our sailors.”

"Oh?" the deputy king asked: "Please tell me specifically about the war in Aden. This is very important to our army."

Seeing Almeida's business-like appearance, Albuquerque also became serious and narrated the Battle of Aden from his perspective. He also commented: "If the gunners on the coastal defense forts were from our military ships, German and Flanders gunners, our army would have been wiped out long ago. However, the enemy soldiers fought very bravely. They attacked the fort for two days but failed to conquer it. They also dared to attack our army with inferior troops and coastal defense artillery. After jumping, Our army has paid a lot of price for going back and forth in the gang war."

He also talked about Safawi Karavel, whom he captured when he first arrived at Socotra: "It was very difficult for our officers and soldiers to seize this patrolling enemy warship, especially the matchlock guns and breech-loading swivels carried on the side of the ship. There were more cannons than the Karak ships that came forward to fight. Find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com The nobles at the forefront of the charge were all killed by Muslim guns..."

And when repairing the ship, the Portuguese craftsmen who accompanied the ship also discovered that the hulls of the Iranian-made warships were thickened with solid wood, obviously to increase the survivability of being hit by naval guns.

Equipped with equal equipment, fighting bravely, and lacking in technology, these are the three points Almeida extracted from Albuquerque's description.

Demoji then recounted his many battles with patrolling Safavid warships near Goa. His dhows and pirates never once achieved victory in front of these Safavid sailors.

Almeida, who believed the two men's statements, still believed that Portugal was unbeatable in naval battles. However, considering the information conveyed by envoys, merchants and travelers who had visited Iran, its governance was not comparable to that of Lisbon. There are several cities in Rome and Constantinople, and some people secretly observed the shipbuilding industry in Hormuz and Shah Port, and described it in detail in secret letters to the Vice-King.

This comparison couldn't help but remind him of Venice and the Ottomans. He was Venice, the other was the Ottomans, and who would win in the war between Venice and the Ottomans... No, this was just an inappropriate metaphor.

The deputy king recovered his thoughts and asked Demoji to retreat first, and then ordered Albuquerque: "I will mobilize additional warships for you to dispatch the troops you need, and the required supplies and soldiers will not be less. It is not suitable to go north to fight at this time of year, so you should first go south to Colombo on the Island of Ceylon to support the friendly forces."

After much thought, he decided to directly take the captain who rejected Albuquerque under his command without any punishment, and arranged another captain and warship for the chief captain.

Albuquerque, who was still thinking about Socotra and Aden, accepted the order.