The Strait of Malacca, which is currently under the absolute control of the Portuguese, has built forts in Malacca and deployed a large fleet, even the current increasingly powerful Imperial Navy, for the time being, there is nothing to do about Malacca.

The Portuguese, who had blockaded the Strait of Malacca, did not explicitly refuse to allow ships from other countries to pass through the Strait, but this was only superficial.

At present, there are many merchant ships that can pass through this strait, and merchants from some indigenous countries in Indo-West Asia are able to pass through this strait, but they inevitably need to be under the full supervision of the Portuguese.

Even the merchant ships of the Empire can actually go through this strait!

However, once you enter this strait, then you basically leave life and death in the hands of the Portuguese, and no one knows what 'accidents' happen when passing through the strait.

Of course, the Portuguese would never admit that they did it, they would say that it was pirates, that it was a storm or something.

In order to avoid this risk, Datang Western Company did not cross this strait from the beginning, and the route they took was from the mainland of China, then arrived in Luzon (Philippine Islands), and then from Luzon, bypassed western Borneo from the east into the Banten Islands (Indonesian archipelago), and finally arrived in Banten (Java Island).

Banten, by this time, had developed into the most important supply port and military base of the empire in the southern seas, where more than 2,000 soldiers were stationed here for a long time to resist the indigenous kingdoms of the Banten Islands, as well as to guard against the Portuguese and the many pirates in the waters of Southeast Asia.

After arriving in Banten, the merchant ships of the Tang Western Company underwent a final round of rest and replenishment of their cargo, then crossed the Banten Strait into the edge of the Indian Ocean and then moved west along Sumatra Island (Sumatra) in the Banten Islands.

However, during this period, Sumen Island was still under the control of indigenous forces such as the Kingdom of Aceh, and the Portuguese also had a certain amount of power above, so the Tang Western Company did not establish a colony on Sumen Island for the time being, but had a serious hostile relationship with the Portuguese, and the Acehnese who were at war with each other cooperated and rented their port for supply.

Then they will leave the Banten Islands and go straight into the vast Indian Ocean, all the way west to India, they will follow the currents and the monsoons, and finally they will cross the Indian Ocean and finally enter India!

And this section of the route, in fact, really enters the vast depths of the Indian Ocean, but it belongs to the safest time.

Where are the dangerous routes? Actually when you're close to the coastline!

For example, in the waters of Southeast Asia, there are many pirates here, and the Portuguese are also mixed in, and the maritime security is not optimistic, especially from Malacca to Borneo, the southernmost point of the South China Sea, and the section of the sea area connected to the Banten Sea (Java Sea), which is called the Malacca Sea by the imperial maritime merchants, which is even more active with many pirates.

In addition to this, there are several other dangerous routes, such as the Andaman Sea west of the Strait of Malacca, where pirates are also often ambushed to attack passing merchant ships.

As for how many of these pirates were Portuguese, how many were Acehnese, or how many were Indians or even pirate ships disguised by the Imperial Navy and the company fleet, it is unknown.

What's that, everyone is doing this anyway, but everyone doesn't admit it, so no one can say who is not!

But it is undeniable that whether it is the Malacca Sea or the Andaman Sea, they all have a common feature, that is, they are close to the Strait of Malacca, but one is in the east and the other is in the west.

As the eastern beginning of the Indian Ocean shipping route, most of the merchant ships passing through the Strait of Malacca or the merchant ships of Datang Western Company bypassing the Strait of Malacca and entering the Indian Ocean along the southern coastline of Suman Island will inevitably need to pass through the waters of the Andaman Islands.

The same is true for the waters of Malacca!

This can also indirectly reflect the importance of the Strait of Malacca!

All pirates know how to choose to ambush at the east and west ends of this strait!

However, even if they know that this route is dangerous, the merchant ships have to go hard, but everyone has their own way of survival.

Ordinary maritime merchants would deploy naval guns on merchant ships and turn merchant ships into armed merchant ships.

Large-scale maritime merchants would organize fleets to go to sea in groups, and sometimes invite naval warships to escort them.

However, the merchant fleet of Datang Western Company does not need this!

They themselves have warships to carry out escorts!

Today, a fleet of Datang Western Company is sailing in the Andaman Sea!

This merchant fleet is not large, but it is not small, with three armed merchant ships and an escort ship!

And in order to ensure profits, in fact, even if it is an escort frigate, in addition to the necessary materials, there is also a large amount of goods in the warehouse, Datang Western Company is a commercial company, it is impossible to go purely for the purpose of fighting, even if it is a warship to escort, it must be guaranteed that it will not lose money.

The commander of this small fleet is Tong Shangchao, the captain of the frigate Arctic of the fleet of the Datang Western Company, and he wears a third-class military rank on his shoulders that belongs to the fleet of the Datang Western Company.

In order to make a better distinction, the armed employees of Datang Western Company also have military ranks, but their military ranks are not common to the army and navy, captains, etc., but use relatively low-key numerical titles.

For example, the first-class employee can be regarded as an army or navy general, and generally speaking, most of these first-class employees are several main persons in charge of the fleet of the Tang Western Company, and they also belong to the class of senior generals.

The captain of a cruiser is generally a second-class employee, the captain of a frigate is a third-class employee, and the captain of an ordinary small military ship is a fourth-class employee.

Ordinary officers, on the other hand, were a number of employees, and the lowest-ranking sailors or marines were ninth-class employees.

Generally speaking, the commander of a detachment is the captain of a cruiser or frigate.

Recently, Tong Shangchao's luck is good, after he led the fleet to set off from Banten Port, the road was smooth, and he also picked up a pirate ship on the road, and several rounds of ship shelling over, that is, the pirate ship that was unknown and stupidly rushed over to rob and rob was driven away.

But he didn't expect that his luck would come to an end today!

When he used his binoculars to see three ships coming at high speed in front of him, he frowned!

All three ships were not large, but they were all multi-masted clippers covered with artillery, and they were generally used only for two purposes, either as warships or as pirate ships!

But these three clippers did not fly the flags of various countries, but did not have any symbols, which represents something, which means that this is very likely to be a pirate ship, or a pirate ship disguised by the warships of the navies of various countries!

And whatever it is, it's not a good thing for his fleet!

Damn, I didn't expect to meet these damn pirates just after entering the waters of Amanda!

However, as a retired naval officer with old qualifications, even if he retired from active duty half a year ago, and then transferred to Datang Western Company, he still maintains his demeanor as an imperial soldier!

After putting down the binoculars, he said to the adjutant beside him: "Order, first-class combat readiness!" ”

Level 1 combat readiness, this word almost means that the battle is about to break out, and all departments must quickly prepare for battle!

When Tong Shangchao gave the order to prepare for battle, a large number of officers and non-commissioned officers came to the cabin of his ship Arctic to move quickly, but the first thing they did was not to open the gun window and load ammunition, what did they do first!

First of all, the ship is sailing 24 hours a day, and most of the officers and sailors are in shifts, and in order to ensure that all the officers are combat-ready when the battle breaks out, the sailors who have been working continuously for a long time will be given a rest and replaced with sailors who have already rested.

What's the second thing?

The ship's chefs started cooking ahead of time!

Yes, in this year, the first thing to prepare for warship is not to do anything else, but to rest and prepare meals.

As for the real battle, it will not break out for a while, or more accurately, for a few hours!

In this vast sea, even if both sides have already discovered each other, the actual distance is several kilometers or even more than ten kilometers.

And the ship is moving, as long as the speed of the two sides is not too different, then if one of them turns to dodge, the other party wants to catch up, even if it has a speed advantage, but it is not so easy.

Therefore, after discovering a potential enemy, Tong Shangchao's fleet did not sound the battle alarm with great fanfare or the like, but rested when it should rest, and ate when it should eat.

Even Tong Shangchao himself, after giving the order to rest the course, he was ready to go to dinner!

But anyone knows that these few hours are just the dreary before the storm!

Tong Shangchao's fleet, after discovering a potential pirate or an unknown warship disguised as a pirate, did not turn around and run away stupidly, at this time U-turn, the wind direction is wrong, it is easier to be caught up, and they are going to India, what is the matter of turning around and going back to Banten.

However, there is no lack of rest at all, they take a slight angle according to the direction of the wind, in order to achieve greater speed!

Seeing the course of this fleet, it is not difficult to guess Tong Shangchao's thoughts, he wants to take advantage of the wind direction to directly break through the enemy's interception!