Early the next morning, the six warships moored outside the harbor suddenly moved, and it was the same ship with the rat flag that took the lead, and one followed one to the north. At the same time, seven or eight of the largest Arab galleys outside and inside the harbor also moved, and they were heading in the same direction as the sailing fleet in front of them. Most of the Arab and Southern Song merchants on the shore did not know where the ships were going, and only a few Arab merchants knew a little bit about the fact that the ships were going to catch slaves, and that there would be a large number of slaves auctioned on the docks. The Arabs were very skilled and enthusiastic about auctioning slaves, and soon a high platform made of wooden barrels and boxes appeared in the middle of the wharf, and a group of boat slaves were nailing planks to them and building awnings. Regarding the matter of slave auctions, the merchants of the Southern Song Dynasty were all blinded, and the Southern Song Dynasty did not allow slaves to be owned, they were basically watching the excitement and had no urge to participate.

"Half sails! Left rudder 3......" At this time, Hong Tao was standing on the stern of the flagship with a strained face, personally commanding the Guangzhou as a pioneer and leading the way for the fleet behind. It's not that he's still angry, in fact, he wasn't angry yesterday afternoon, he just felt that he didn't speculate for more than half a sentence, and the reason why he still had a stinky face now was mainly because this water was too difficult to walk.

In later generations, this strait between the Indian peninsula and the island of Sri Lanka was called the Paulk Strait, and compared with other straits, it has only one characteristic, that is, it is shallow, very shallow. The strait is more than 100 kilometers long and dozens of kilometers wide, with an average water depth of less than 10 meters, and in some places only one or two meters deep, and the bottom is full of coral reefs. For a deep-sea ship type like the Canton. It's dangerous. In order to find out the channel for the flotilla behind. Hong Tao had to take the lead, at least he had walked here once in his previous life on a sailboat, probably where deep and where shallow he had seen the charts, and he could remember some of them.

"Well, how did I forget about them, follow them, they're helping to explore the depths." Due to the need to measure as it went, the fleet advanced slowly. At this time, the Arab galleys that had been following behind showed their advantage. Although their boat is also pointed bottom, it has a small load and a shallow draft, and can pass through it at a depth of two meters, so it quickly overtakes it, and gesturing to Hongtao's boat while sailing ahead.

With the Arabian galleys at their command, Hong Tao's fleet was finally able to run a little faster, and the Arabs were noticeably more familiar with the waters, having sailed for just over a day. I came to a port at the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula. This is supposed to be a city that belongs to the country of Zhuyuan, and the port is not small. The population is also quite small.

"Raise the battle flag, all ships, shipyards, and resistors near the port are targets, pay attention to saving grenades!" After looking at it in the binoculars, Hong Tao gave the battle order without hesitation. He had already negotiated with these Arabs, and the two sides would cooperate to attack a series of port cities in the country, with his own fleet responsible for fire support, and the Arabs responsible for landing first, and then the two sides would work together to attack the city, and the final harvest would be divided equally among everyone. The Arabs were very interested in Hong Tao's suggestion, and hit it off, compared to the Song people, they were more aggressive, as long as it was not their own country, there was nothing they should not fight, only whether they could fight.

The sudden appearance of six galleons caused a wave of panic in the harbor, and the ensuing grenade explosions and fireballs mixed with oil made everyone in the harbor feel as if a natural disaster had struck. If there is one who runs, there will be a group of people who run, and then everyone will run, running towards the city, and even if there are those who want to resist, they will be carried away by the flow of people. The port was covered by fire for only one round, and the landing site was opened, but in fact, few people were actually killed and injured, all of them were frightened by these loud noises and smoke.

The rest was much simpler, the Arab galleys did not even need to land dinghys, and as soon as they approached the pier, the crew immediately turned into soldiers armed with scimitars and shields, and rushed ashore howling. Without waiting for the boats of the Hongtao fleet, they rushed towards the walled city with earthen walls and wooden gates, but they were blocked by the crossbows fired from the city, and several people were injured, so they had to retreat slightly.

"Alas...... What's the hurry, my life wasn't born by my mother! Maitini, you go and talk to the leaders of your tribe, tell them not to rush to charge, and wait for my cannon to blow open the city gates, didn't you say it before! Hong Tao held the telescope on the stern tower and looked at it for a while, and shook his head helplessly. These Arabs are so fierce that they don't take their lives seriously, but whether they can die or not, there are still many walled cities behind them that need them. However, Hong Tao can only let Martini suggest and suggest, the two sides are cooperating for the first time, it is a temporary combination, and it must be run-in to cooperate.

When the boats of the Hongtao fleet landed with the sailors, the small wheelbarrows were pushed up, ten in all, and began to slowly approach the small city. A hundred and ten meters away from the city gate, the wheelbarrows stopped, and next to each car stood a few Arab warriors, shielding the scattered arrows and crossbows that flew by, and then the iron balls drew a parabola and flew towards the city gate.

The first wave of attacks did not damage the gates, and even a well-trained gunner had to test fire a shot or two to find the right sense of distance. However, a few of the grenades in this wave still flew into the low city wall, and they couldn't be seen without causing damage, but they exploded in the city anyway, and the arrows and crossbows fired from the opposite side were significantly reduced. The sailors who operated the large slingshot on the wheelbarrow were tasked with throwing all ten grenades behind the city gates, regardless of the effect of the shot. A hundred grenades, 50 of which were incendiary bombs with mixed oil. Although the killing radius is not large, and the combustion effect is not very powerful, it is probably the first time for people in this era to experience the attack of this kind of thermal weapon, and it is not clear how to deal with it, and they don't know how to lie on the ground to avoid the shrapnel flying around. Just like a horse that has never heard the sound of gunfire, a grenade will explode the nest, and a grenade will come down, who cares if you can't shoot an arrow, run.

In less than five minutes, all 100 grenades on 10 vehicles were dropped, and not only the sailors who had already landed could not see the bombing effect, but even the lookouts on the top of the mast of the sailing ship could not see it, and the smoke was too great to see anything clearly. Just as Hong Tao pondered whether it was time to throw another round, the Arabs began to charge again, this time basically not blocked by the arrows and crossbows, and they rushed directly under the city gate.

The gates weren't blown open, not even heavily damaged, and the explosion of those grenades didn't work well for a thick wooden gate. But the Arabs had their own way, and they did not intend to enter through the city gate at all, but chose the city wall. The grappling hook, a tool used to grasp the enemy's ships in naval battles, was used as a tool to climb the castle, and as soon as it was grabbed at the top of the castle, he climbed up with a scimitar in his mouth.

There was no one behind the walls, and the burning houses and debris became an obstacle to the attack. In order to ensure safety, Hong Tao ordered the wheelbarrow to approach the city gate and fired another round of incendiary bombs at the city, and the small walled city became a smoking hell on earth. Once the wooden houses are ignited by the mixed oil and heavy oil, they will soon burn into a big fireball, and there is no way to save them, and the people in the city can't wait to run out of the city gates, and the Arabs are climbing the city walls and turning in, and they are climbing the city walls and turning out. As a result, the sailors who had not yet entered the city became a capture party, and went around to catch these escapees, and the siege became a chase war, which was faster than anyone who ran in the field.

"Alas...... This battle was fought...... How did this happen? Yaya, tell the other boats, and then send someone ashore to help arrest people. Hong Tao stood on the stern tower and looked dumbfounded, this is different from the way of war he designed, shouldn't there be fighting, defense, and attack. As a result, none of these processes are there, a city is burning, surrounded by people running and chasing, who can't tell who is who, and at this time any flags are in vain, no one cares about it.

The battle lasted less than half an hour, but the prisoners were captured for two hours, and at last they were counted, there were only more than two hundred, and most of the inhabitants ran into the woods behind the city to find them. The Arabs wounded eleven people, only four of whom were wounded by arrows and crossbows during the siege, and the remaining seven were smashed and burned by the collapsed buildings in the city. The losses of the sailors on his side were relatively small, and only two were wounded, all of which fell into the pit while pursuing them outside the city.

At this time, it was time for the three interpreters to come forward, and their respective captives were screened, and blacksmiths, carpenters, and weavers were singled out, and the rest were put on a paddle ship by the Arabs, and sent directly back to the port of Kabaran. As for this small city and port, the buildings that have not yet burned down have all been set on fire by Hong Tao's order to pour whale oil, and he wants to turn this place into a white field, and not recover at least a year or two. Even if it is rebuilt, it will not be able to spare manpower to expand further to the east for a while.

"General, why are we still staying here and not going back?" With the exception of the four slurry ships that escorted the prisoners home, the remaining three slurry ships and six warships remained overnight in the waters outside the harbor. Looking at the city that was still burning, Wen Nan, who hadn't bothered Hongtao much for a day, stood up and asked questions again.

"Go back? Secretary Wen, describe your big demon king in your notebook, this is the beginning, from here, the towns on the coast thousands of miles north are the result. When the grenades on my ship reach the minimum stock, it will be over, and every year or two in the future, I will come back and burn them again. In this sea area, there can only be one voice, and that is the shareholders of the Straits Company, and all the other people and countries that get in the way are my enemies. This result is also what those Great Song Dynasty maritime merchants are looking forward to, do you know what cross-border trade is? It is to buy and sell under the protection of force, and whoever has a thick arm will set the rules of trade. Hong Tao gritted his teeth and said this matter very easily, as if he was talking on paper, but the fire on the shore really shone on his face, everyone's face. (To be continued.) )