The Sun and the Lion

"What happened?" The Portuguese in the port all saw a ship on the sea slowly approaching here. Its sails were painted with red cross patterns, and the royal flags were hung on the masts. They seemed to be their own warships.

Careful observation reveals that its hull is somewhat damaged, but it is not serious. It must have experienced several victorious battles. The busybodies are guessing who is commanding the fleet and how much loot is in the cabin. They are all bored enough to bet on this matter.

The pilot immediately indicated the berth for the fleet that had broken out from Joul. The tired sailors landed ashore to rest, while the officers hurried to the deputy king's official residence to report on their duties.

When the deputy king saw the injured Lorenzo and the demoralized captains, he guessed that the news was not good. He was mentally prepared and expressed surprise after listening to the battle report: "The Rum people have appeared in India? "

This was a variable that he had never thought of before. In fact, there had been rumors that the Egyptian Sudan was going to launch a holy war, and the Portuguese hospital knights also reported news about the Mamluk navy to their motherland. These unknown rumors came to Cochin through Muslim traders and spice fleets, constantly polluting the deputy king's intelligence library.

It's just that it's been almost two years since he first heard the news of jihad. He didn't see the Rum fleet coming from the Red Sea. However, the Persians were quite active. If it hadn't been for the battle of Joul, he would still think that The message was wrong.

Unexpectedly, the Rumu people did a terrible job in their first appearance. Although the Portuguese warships that were attacked successfully broke through, they were a convoy and all the objects they wanted to protect were captured by the enemy.

Thinking of this, he could already imagine the scene of the Cochin court sending representatives to question him. No matter how the turmoil was calmed down, this would seriously shake Portugal's prestige in India. Maintaining the confidence of collaborators was the key to gaining a foothold in India.

Then he dismissed the other captains, leaving only Lorenzo. Then he looked at the injury on his son's face with concern. After confirming that it would not cause serious disability, he breathed a sigh of relief: "God bless, fortunately, this arrow did not hit the more critical part." Where, alas..." Lorenzo could see the anger and hatred in his father's eyes.

He didn't want the deputy king to worry too much about his safety, so he changed the subject and said: "This is not a serious injury. Rather than lying on the bed, I am more concerned about the new mission. What are you going to do next?"

"Lorenco, due to the heavy losses caused by this defeat, I have decided to relieve you from your post and appoint you to Colombo as the garrison commander to serve as Albuquerque's assistant and ask him to transfer the warships in Ceylon to Come to Cochin." Almeida decided first.

Lourenco could only choose to accept this order, which was unclear whether it was to protect or punish him, and finally left the office in despair, asking his servants to pack up his personal belongings and prepare to go to Colombo to take office.

The importance of the Island of Ceylon goes without saying. After all, Cochin is the territory of the allies. When the facilities in Colombo are completed and the Portuguese community begins to take shape, the headquarters of Portuguese India may be moved there.

For Almeida, the biggest goal of the year has been determined. Judging from the information known so far, various opposition forces have formed a coalition, won victory in Joul, and almost caused Lorenzo to be maimed or killed. This is something he cannot tolerate in any case. Before he could destroy Calicut, he needed a victory, one big enough to render the Muslims incapable of attacking.

But now it has entered spring, the temperature has risen, the rainfall has increased sharply, and the risks of maritime navigation have greatly increased. The warships are also scattered to perform their respective tasks, which prevents Almeida from heading north immediately.

He first carefully analyzed the battle report. The clerk recorded the entire oral version for the deputy king's reference. Lourenco then provided a paper report from his perspective.

"The Rum people have poor artillery skills, but they have good archers and warriors. Their excellent chainmail is enough to withstand swords, and their heavy rain of arrows is enough to make it difficult for our crossbowmen and gunners to perform... I The army was finally able to break out, first of all because of the love of God. The internal strife between Muslims made the two fleets barely cooperate, and the Indian ships deployed at the mouth of the river were weak, and the sailors on them were not worth mentioning. "

The captains believed that the Rum battleship was inferior to bombardment, and because of the bravery of the other side's sailors, it would be thankless to take the initiative to join forces. Michel's proposal was highly praised by Lourenco after the war: "If we had listened to the main gunner's advice early and used our advantages to use artillery to accurately crush enemy ships, this failure would not have happened."

The dissatisfaction from the Maharaja of Cochin came as quickly as he expected. The deputy king, who was still summarizing the battle report, condescended to go to the palace to see him. In the hall, he intended to convince the Maharaja and the court officials present: "Regarding the tragedy in Joul, I also feel sad, and my heart is full of hatred and anger towards Muslims. But now we have to take the overall situation into consideration. If we ask for the compensation we are paying to businessmen, it will inevitably divert funds for military equipment. If our army is unable to fight, find Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com Joul’s failure will only happen again!”

There were officials on the side who wanted to step forward excitedly to question the deputy king. The Maharaja of Cochin took the initiative to calm the doubts of others and signaled the deputy king to continue.

"If you are willing to trust me, please help our army raise military supplies. When our army conquers Goa and Diu, the compensation you deserve will be repaid with the spoils plundered during the war, no matter what." Almeida He painted an attractive pie for everyone present and promised to share dividends with his allies.

Perhaps out of trust in Portugal's military force, Almeida successfully persuaded the Maharaja of Cochin to allow him to raise as much supplies as possible with limited funds.

After thanking the Maharaja of Cochin and retiring, Almeida returned to the mansion without stopping, and asked the clerk to draft several orders requiring the return of the fleet stationed abroad: "I ask you to return to Cochin before the rainy season arrives, and I will issue it to you on the spot. Important orders."

Then he found several missionaries and nobles who had served as spies: "I want to know where the Muslim fleet is stationed and what they did in the summer. This is very important."

"Yes, Your Excellency." Everyone respectfully accepted the order and left.

…………

The success of Jore's victory inspired all the anti-Portuguese forces. While the deputy king was appeasing the Cochin allies, Calicut Zamorin directly ordered from the palace to celebrate the small defeat of his mortal enemy and wait until the Mamluk fleet arrived in Goa. He wrote to Goa saying that he wanted to make a corresponding contribution to the fight against the Franks.

Without waiting for a response, almost all Calicut warships and dozens of merchant ships, large and small, carried personnel and supplies to Goa to contribute to Ehsan's war preparations.

Ahsan welcomed these uninvited guests and was inspired to contact various ports to send people and supplies. After a series of diplomatic activities, the port of Goa is getting increasingly crowded.