Battle for Sea Power
Great Tang Zhenguan Sixth Year, 12th October, early morning.
The weather was clear and the waves were calm.
East Surging Island's outer seas.
All kinds of sails were raised high, covering the sky. Between the sea and the sky, it was like a floating city.
Zhangsun Wugou stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the continent that was getting further and further away.
It was unknown when he would be able to return to the Great Tang.
Zhangsun Wugou sighed softly. On the other hand, Li Lizhi and Zhangsun Wugou did not seem to miss Chang 'an.
One of them wanted to escape the engagement, while the other was already concerned about a certain giant bandit.
At this moment, tens of thousands of people and hundreds of ships had already set sail and broken through the waves. Their target was the Liuqiu Island in the southeast.
At the forefront of the hundreds of ships was Zhang Xun's flagship, Sea Dragon.
In order to go to the sea, Zhang Xun had started preparing five years ago, including training sailors and making simple sextants and theodolites. He could draw a rough map of the world based on his memory.
When he was teaching his adopted sons, he specially opened a course on navigation and trained a group of people who had mastered basic navigation knowledge.
Although there was already a group of sailors who knew how to sail, Zhang Xun still personally took on the task of guiding the ship group in this matter that concerned the Flowing Ball Governor's Office.
After entering the open sea, Zhang Xun planned for the fleet to head straight for the freshwater river plains at the back of Liuqiu Island.
Roughly 600 li, with the northwest wind blowing, it would take a day to reach.
However, the prerequisite for arriving in a day was that there were no enemies blocking their way.
In reality, Zhang Xun's actions with such fanfare could not be concealed.
Therefore, not long after they set off, Zheng Da and the others received the news.
If someone could look down at the ocean north of the Flowing Ball Strait from the Sky King, they would find that in front of Zhang Xun's fleet was a group of even larger ships.
Some of these ships were under the banner of Arabia's Green Crescent, while others were under the banner of Quanzhou's Zheng Clan. They had already broken into battle formations, and the thousands of warships were like thousands of ferocious beasts with their mouths wide open and their fangs bared, ready to pounce on their prey.
A sea battle involving more than a thousand ships and armors, perhaps the largest sea battle in the history of East Asia, was about to begin!
In Zhang Xun's opinion, the significance of this naval battle could not be emphasized too much.
Because this was a naval battle that would determine the ownership of East Asia's sea power!!
These pirates from Arabia and the great merchants of the Great Tang would learn from this naval battle who was the true master of the sea!
In fact, in this era, the East Asian countries did not have much of a concept of sea power.
Because there was no such concept, none of the East Asian countries established a navy with the goal of controlling the sea.
The navy was not the navy. It was impossible for the inland navy to roam freely on the sea.
In a sense, the decline of the Huaxia civilization was closely related to the lack of marine genes.
The Han people faced the yellow soil with their backs facing the sky. The people on the land were naturally not sensitive to the sea.
However, Zhang Xun, who came from the future, knew very well.
The future world belonged to the ocean.
From the very beginning, his goal was to dominate the ocean.
The benefits of dominating the ocean were too great.
The Great Tang was definitely the country with the highest gross domestic product in this era, so it naturally had the highest trade volume in the world. The Silk Road relied on camel bells, and the Silk Road on the sea had begun to flourish.
Whether it was in terms of import or export, the Great Tang was number one in the world.
No matter who controlled East Asia's sea power, they would be able to extract at least tens of thousands of strings of wealth from this huge trade!
In this sense, even without Cheng Yaojin's help, the Eastern and Western pirates who were active in the South Sea could not coexist with Zhang Xun.
Both sides were bound to fight! To decide who was the master of the East Asian Sea.
....
Haddadi was one of the prows of the thirty-six Grand Dhows.
He was in charge of commanding a large dhow named " Magic Snake."
He was a devout believer of Tianfang Sect and had no interest in business. However, he was a natural-born warrior of the sea. He was a believer who regarded spreading the name of the True God on the sea as his lifelong career.
In the seas of East Asia and South Asia, any merchant ship that did not believe in the Tianfang Sect had to pay 20% of their goods as tribute as long as they met his 'Magic Snake'!
Anyone who dared not to hand it over would have to bear the wrath of the Sea Serpent.
This was a magic snake that terrified all the sea merchants and pirates in Southeast Asia.
Today, besides commanding his own Magic Snake, Haddadi was also the head of the other fifty warships.
Abdalla Hari, Zheng Da, and the other two Arab pirates organized their thousand-some warships.
There were a total of 38 fleets, each led by an Arabian dhow, with dozens of Chinese sailboats of varying numbers.
Thirty-seven of the thirty-eight fleets were lined up on the ocean, waiting for Zhang Xun's arrival.
The fleet led by Abdel's 'True God's Greatest' was supervising the battle from behind the thirty-seven fleets!
At this moment, Haddadi was commanding fifty warships. They were lined up in three rows and laid across the sea.
" Almighty God, please bestow power upon your believers. Let us spread the truth with knives and swords and turn this sea area into a burial ground for heretics…"
"True God is great, true God is great!"
All of the Tianfang Disciples faced the west and knelt down, following Haddadi's final prayer before the battle.
After the prayer, the demon snake, which made countless sea merchants pale, stood up and stared at the intersection of the sea and the sky in the west like a venomous snake.
Suddenly!
A few masts appeared on the surface of the sea, and a red tiger flag floated on the masts!
That was Zhang Xun's flag!
"The unforgivable heretic is right there!”
The demon snake pulled out its sharp scimitar. The blade flickered with a cold light as it suddenly slashed towards the west.
"Prepare for battle! Everyone prepare for battle!"
"Use your scimitars and bows to kill every heretic! To seize their wealth, ships, and women!”
"The sea belongs to a true god! They belong to the believers of the true God!"
"True God is great!"
Everyone pulled out their scimitars and shouted crazily.
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