The small fleet entered the Red Sea, which is part of the Indian Ocean and is a strait located between northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula in Asia.

The origin of the name of the Red Sea is explained in many ways.

One is to explain the name of the Red Sea in terms of the color of the sea. This explanation is divided into three views: some say that the Red Sea contains many brightly colored shells, which make the water crimson; Some believe that the shallow seas near the Red Sea have a large amount of coral sand in yellow, yellow, and red, which makes the sea red. It is also said that the Red Sea is the hottest sea in the world and is suitable for the reproduction of organisms, so a kind of red seaweed grows in large numbers in the surface seawater, making the sea water slightly red, hence the name Red Sea.

The second is that the color of the rocks on both sides of the Red Sea is the reason for the name of the Red Sea. In ancient times, due to the constraints of transportation and technical conditions, people could only sail near the shore by boat. At that time, it was discovered that on both sides of the Red Sea, especially along the coast of Africa, there was a continuous reddish-yellow rock wall, which reflected the sun's rays to the sea, making the sea also shimmer red, hence the name of the Red Sea.

The third is to associate the name of the Red Sea with the climate. The Red Sea often has winds from the African desert on the surface of the Red Sea, sending hot air currents and reddish-yellow dust and mist, making the sky darker and the sea dark red, so it is called the Red Sea.

Fourth, many peoples in ancient West Asia used black to represent the north and red to represent the south, and the Red Sea was the "sea of the south".

When the Chinese arrived, the Red Sea was not red, but what was enough to move people at a glance was the blue of the seawater, which was the kind of deep ocean and highly transparent seawater that did not contain pollutants washed down by the land.

In the travelogue written by reporter Yao Wenqi, he complained: "The sun and the sea are just no beach and no trees!" ”

There are few tidal flats along the coast and many coral reefs, and large coral reefs are very close to the water, so boats should be cautious.

It can be seen that many merchant ships are traveling in the same direction as them, and some are going in the opposite direction.

The environment here is treacherous, the weather at sea is hot, and you can see the heat of the land rising like a steamer!

Fresh water control was implemented, and the officers and men were again reduced to a situation where two pots of water were used for a day.

Thanks to the pioneering of the Chinese, there was a pilot on the warship, Wang Chihuo, who was the owner of the merchant ships who had been here, he looked east and west, identified the terrain, and suddenly shouted: "There is a water source ahead!" ”

A near-shore water point was well guarded by the tribes, and the oasis was filled with water flowing to the sea, and the tribes moved in the oasis, and through the binoculars they were seen to be richly dressed, with short knives and waist knives nested with precious stones and gold and silver, and camels riding tall and mighty.

"The business of the water pick-up point is good!" Deputy Navigator Shi Lang was stupid.

And the veterans on the ship laughed together!

"Did I say something wrong?" Shi Lang touched his nose and said.

Reporter Yao Wenqi said with a smile: "Let Uncle Yao tell you, do you know where the beast has the greatest harvest?" ”

"Please!" Shi Lang asked without understanding.

"They ambush their prey right next to the water source, and they have the most catch!" Yao Wenqi preached.

"Taught!" Shi Lang nodded.

In fact, although the fleet was small, it was not something that the local tribe could eat, and when the dinghy brought people and buckets ashore, it was warmly welcomed by the tribesmen!

The Chinese are heavily armed, armed with long guns, short guns, knives, axes and bombs, who will provoke them without long eyes!

The confiscation of the water bills of the Chinese is equivalent to giving them away, and the two sides exchange materials, and the Chinese exchange sugar, tobacco, tea and silver ingots for a large herd of their live sheep, and the Chinese send thirty sharp scimitars!

The tribesmen also invited them to eat together, which should be sincere, generally speaking, the tribesmen invited people to dinner to treat them as friends, and the Chinese pushed them away on the grounds that they were in a hurry.

When the boat was reopened, the tribesmen sent it to the shore, waving frequently, and they were very enthusiastic!

The pilot Wang Chishui spat into the sea and said: "This tribe is very famous, they are very powerful, they can travel thousands of miles and rob the goods of other caravans. ”

"Scared!" Shi Lang exclaimed.

Wang Chishui turned to Hong Xiguan and said: "The cruiser is the bottom of our Chinese merchant ships, with them, we have something to rely on!" I wonder when our fleet will be able to cruise this area? ”

"Three to five years! However, even if there are no patrol ships, we still have 'killing ships'! Hong Xiguan said.

Wang Chishui nodded, Shi Lang's level was not high before, and it was the first time he heard of the 'killing ship', so he asked curiously.

The "killing ship" is actually "mercenaries!" ”

It was sometimes inconvenient for the Southeast Province to send patrol ships, but the leader was benevolent and would never allow his own people to be violated outside the protection of the fleet, and he ordered the formation of mercenaries, who were actually retired veterans of the Southeast Province, who operated as civilian figures, and were equipped with the same equipment as the navy, and even had their own gunboats, but they did not have the flag and rank of the navy, and were still under the command of the War Department of the Southeast Province.

The main task of the mercenaries is to protect the overseas interests of the Chinese in the southeast province, and the creed is that those who offend the Chinese in the southeast province will be punished even if they are far away!

A tooth for a tooth, blood for blood, if you dare to touch one of our Chinese, we will destroy one of their tribes!

In fact, the Chinese merchant ships were generally comfortable outside the protection of the fleet of the Southeast Province, and they could not do without the protection of mercenaries!

Some of the mercenary ships are dedicated to killing people, so they are also called "killing ships!" ”

"It's very important here, and once the fleet arrives, use it as a base!" Wang Chishui proposed, pointing to the water point.

"And think long-term!"

The small fleet continued to drive northwest in the Red Sea, and the strait narrowed and narrowed, until at last they saw the harbor ahead and arrived at their destination.

It is the equivalent of "Suez City" at the end of the Suez Canal in Egypt!

At the moment there is no Suez Canal, but this city is the beginning of the road to the other side of Port Said, after this section of the road (about 190 kilometers), you can reach the Mediterranean, transport goods to Europe, therefore, this seaport is extremely busy, there are many people, goods, ships, all races, all kinds of accents, fish and dragons are mixed, there are West Asian ships, Chinese merchant ships, Asan merchant ships, and even the hostile red-haired ships are also mixed in.

The area was under the jurisdiction of Ali Pasha, the governor of Egypt of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, who sent troops and warships to garrison, but when he saw the three gunboats of the southeast province coming, he immediately felt like a great enemy!

After all, they have also learned the power of gunboats.

The Turks fired six gunboats, which were much inferior to the gunboats of the southeastern provinces, the kind of dragon boats that had been seen in Aceh before, rowing on both sides and gunning on the bow, so top-heavy that they could not go to sea, but in this narrow bay, there was still a place for use.

The guide, Wang Chishui, took a dinghy to negotiate, and after a quarter of an hour, he returned to the flagship and said with a grin: "It's done!" ”

Sure enough, in the distance, the Turks no longer moved forward, but scattered on both sides, leaving a channel, Hong Xiguan's flagship drove over, and the other two ships remained outside the harbor.

This is done, there is no need to use silver, Wang Chishui explained the meaning on behalf of the visiting fleet of the Southeast Prefecture, and the other party looked at the face of the Chinese cannons, and they were very interested in inviting the visiting Chinese commanders to land and meet their commanders!