The Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century was at its peak, because the Ottoman Empire during this period had a very good monarch, which was Suleiman I.

Since this person succeeded to the throne, the Ottoman Empire ushered in Zhongxing and had a strong military force, how strong is it?

Their land forces can beat neighboring countries, and their naval strength is not weak, and even for a certain period of time, they controlled the Mediterranean, and even the Spanish confrontation was helpless!

The Ottoman Empire, with its strong military power, completely controlled large territories such as the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt, and directly blocked the trade routes from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden to the Mediterranean, allowing the Ottoman Empire to obtain a lot of wealth.

For Western European countries, the powerful Ottoman Empire was at the junction of the east and west, cutting off land trade between China and the West, which was also the direct reason for Western European countries to actively explore routes!

If the land trade route from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean was unimpeded, why did they have to travel all the way around Africa to the East, why did they set off from the Atlantic Ocean and travel all the way to the west, trying to find a new route to the East?

All of this was based on the assumption that the Ottoman Empire had taken control of the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt, where East and West meet, and then imposed extremely high taxes on passing caravans.

The Ottoman Empire, which controlled the strategic place where the East and West meet, earned a lot of wealth, and with this wealth, it built a strong military force and developed a good culture, which made the Ottoman Empire stand for thousands of years.

Regarding the situation of the Ottoman Empire, Ying Zihua did not know much!

Although he had in his possession the materials compiled by the Royal Institute of Technology about the current European countries, and also collected some information about the Ottoman Empire from the Portuguese and Spaniards who came to China, most of these materials were relatively superficial.

Before seeing it with his own eyes, Ying Zihua was skeptical about the authenticity of the information!

At the same time, it is also necessary to maintain a certain vigilance against the Ottomans, who are extremely evil in the mouth of the Portuguese and Spaniards!

Therefore, when he led the fleet into the Gulf of Aden, he did not foolishly lead all the ships of the fleet directly into its port, but prepared to send a small ship to test the situation.

What should I do after I have tried the situation?

It depends on the reaction of the Ottomans, if the Ottoman officials at the local port have a good attitude, then the two sides have a basis for cooperation, see if they can sign a trade cooperation agreement or something, preferably a place that can be used as a trading station, a supply port and so on.

If the local Ottoman officials were tough, Ying Zihua would have to consider the risk of entering their port.

After all, Ying Zihua's fleet is not in a very good situation now, and his mission is not to reach any agreement with the Ottomans or anything, he is just here to explore the route, there is no need to take unnecessary risks, when the time comes, Ying Zihua can directly find a small port in the middle of nowhere, directly carry out a simple rest, and then go south!

It didn't take long for Ying Zihua's three ships to arrive in the middle of the Red Sea, which is also the southernmost part of the current Ottoman Empire, and on the northern shore of the Red Sea there is a city with great influence in the peninsula region: Mecca.

Of course, Ying Zihua and they are not going to Moga, they want to go to Jeddah Port!

When Ying Zihua's fleet appeared outside the port of Jeddah, it was not surprising that it caused a strong reaction from the local natives, and more than a dozen ships quickly sailed out of the port, which had strong Mediterranean characteristics, which were different from the Western-style Galen ships and the like that were common in the sea.

Ying Zihua has also seen a lot of this situation, when he was in India before, he also entered the port of the local aborigines several times for replenishment, and the local natives always made such a fuss, as if they recognized that they were here to attack the port.

A group of fools, even if our Datang Western Company wants to start a war, then we have to bring a huge fleet, what can I do with a few lonely ships, I Ying Zihua is at most here to test the situation.

Of course, if the defense force of their port is not good, then Ying Zihua will not waste the opportunity to fight a few volleys, let them collect a little money, and symbolically sell or lease a piece of land to themselves to build a trading station.

Well, it makes sense that these natives are very guarded!

But this time, speaking with a conscience, Ying Zihua really did not intend to start a war, after all, the Ottoman Empire was a regional power, and it was also a potential good trading partner, and if it could carry out peaceful trade, it would be very important for the early Datang Western Company.

As for what will happen in the future when the Tang Western Company has gained a firm foothold in this place, nonsense, it must be to start a war and expand the colony, this question still needs to be asked?

Therefore, this time, Ying Zihua rarely let the two cruisers come forward directly, opened the gun window, revealing dozens of swarthy cannons, aiming at the port is a few rounds of salvos!

Instead, a small boat was sent over to have a good conversation with the local Ottoman officials.

However, the next situation made Ying Zihua a little angry!

Those Ottomans actually used small-caliber artillery to fire at the traffic boat sent out by Ying Zihua, although it was only a small-caliber shotgun, and it didn't hit the traffic boat at all, but it also scared a few people in the traffic enough, and they just turned around and tried to paddle and escape!

At this time, Ying Zihua's face was angry: "These damn barbarians actually dare to intercept the traffic boat they sent over, God is pitiful, it is just a traffic boat that is only a few tons, and there is no artillery, this is a symbol of peace!" “

But these damn barbarians actually opened fire to attack the peace messengers of the Datang Western Company!

Absolutely intolerable!

My Datang Western Company, has never been actively attacked by the enemy, along the way, it has always been Ying Zihua who took the initiative to hit others, and he has never been attacked by others!

So at this time, Ying Zihua's previous sanity disappeared in an instant, Ma Dan, just now he was still thinking about talking about business with good words and seeing if he could sign a few peace and trade agreements, but now it's a fart!

Business does not require the signing of a friendly trade agreement, and after swinging the fleet into the enemy's harbor and sending thousands of people to land and kill the enemy, you can still do business!

Datang Western Company has done this in Nanyang, Myanmar, and India before!

And now, Ying Zihua finally had the idea of doing business peacefully, but he was destroyed by these inexplicable Ottomans!

Immediately, he had a black face and said: "Barbarian is barbarian, unreasonable, unreasonable!" ”

"Order, fire the cannon, let them know that the peace messenger of the Celestial Empire, the ships of the Tang Western Company, cannot be attacked!"

As Ying Zihua's order was conveyed, two cruisers and a 680 armed merchant ship, dozens of guns on their side opened fire!

The rumbling of cannons rang out in this small port!

And until now, Ying Zihua can't understand why these Ottomans attacked him, he obviously didn't show any hostility, even if he wanted to attack this port with arms, it would not be now.

In the end, Ying Zihua can only be explained by barbarism and unreasonableness!

Ying Zihua was inexplicable, but the Ottomans on the other side were extremely frightened!

Why, because they had just been attacked by a group of pirates three days earlier, or more accurately, the Portuguese fleet disguised as pirates, but the Ottomans were not stupid, and they could tell at a glance that they were Portuguese.

Three days earlier, a Portuguese armed merchant ship, taking advantage of the inattention of the defenders in the port, pretended to enter the port to do business, and the result was that it opened fire, and dozens of guns knocked the unsuspecting Ottoman port defense force to pieces.

That is, their ground forces are not bad, after the Portuguese landed, they felt that they couldn't do it, and then grabbed a handful and ran away!

Three days later, today, there were once again three gigantic ships in the port of Jeddah, and the ships knew at a glance that the number of artillery was enormous, and the first thought of the Ottomans was that the damned Portuguese pirates had returned, and that they had brought even more powerful reinforcements.

Although it was a misunderstanding, the Ottomans on the other side didn't know, and Ying Zihua didn't know either, so the two sides fought on this sea!

It's just that this naval battle is a one-sided naval battle!

The Ottoman ships on the opposite side were not large, although they were nimble, but their firepower was very weak, and there were not many large-caliber guns at all!

And the three ships of the Datang Western Company, two of which are professional warships, the firepower on the two cruisers is enough to cover the entire port, and the maneuverability of the warships of the Datang Navy is not comparable to those Galen ships.

So, the next result was, needless to say, after the Osmen lost a few ships, the remaining ships retracted into the port, and Ying Zihua's fleet followed up and bombarded the port and several places on the shore that were obviously artillery positions!

The rumbling of cannons continued for more than an hour!

In the end, the poor port was reduced to ruins!

At this time, Ying Zihua said: "It's really unlucky, if you don't do a good business, you have to force me to use a strong one!" ”

Then he turned to his subordinates and said: "Order, quickly organize the landing, control the port, find supplies, and see if you can find craftsmen and materials for emergency repairs!" ”

Although this small port was overturned, Ying Zihua was not careless!

Although the defense force of this small port is not strong, and most of the dozen or so small ships that resisted just now have been destroyed, but this is a foreign country after all, and the ghost knows if more barbarian troops will come later, so he needs to hurry up to supply supplies, repair ships, and leave!

As for occupying this place, he has no interest in it!

It can't be said that there is no interest, but it should be said that he is weak, his fleet is only a few hundred people in total, and he wants to seize the port city of a regional power, to be honest, it is a bit choking, and it is a bit troublesome to hold it in the future.

When the landing force composed of the marines and sailors of the Datang Western Company began to land, a number of fast horses also galloped out of the port, they were messengers, carrying letters written in a hurry by local officials!

The letter said that the damned Portuguese had come again, a dozen big ships, thousands of people, and hurriedly sent troops to reinforce them, otherwise the port of Jeddah would be completely finished!