In order for the Chinese fleet to gain control of the Indian Ocean, it must have a stable foothold in the Indian Ocean and serve as a logistical supply base for the Chinese fleet -- this is the consensus of the leaders of the Chinese Pacific Fleet Command.

However, this foothold is not easy to find, within the Indian Ocean, India dominates, and the rest are small countries and micro countries, which cannot compete with India, and do not dare to easily offend Indian players. The population of Empires players in these countries is, in descending order: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Maldives.

Qin Xiaobai invited the remaining ten deputy commanders of the Pacific Command, such as Sword King, Sea Soul, and Crazy Dragon, to discuss the establishment of the second naval fleet command of the Great Zhou Dynasty - the Indian Ocean Naval Fleet Command, and selected one of the countries in the Indian Ocean except India as the foothold of the Indian Ocean Fleet.

None of the leaders objected to the formation of the Indian Ocean Fleet. They have been preparing for this for a long time, just waiting for the official announcement. They even began to plan the idea of establishing the Atlantic Command.

Qin Xiaobai didn't say much nonsense about this, he mainly expressed his views on the choice of the foothold of the Indian Ocean Fleet.

"Among the Indian Ocean countries, Pakistan is the most ideal foothold for China's Indian Ocean Fleet, and it is also our best ally to suppress the power of Indian players. China and Pakistan are natural allies, and Chinese and Pakistani players have a deep relationship and they can help us gain a foothold in the Indian Ocean.

But there is a big problem, and that is that Pakistan is too far from Singapore's Changi Port, with a 5,500-kilometre stretch of ocean. Even today's large sailing boats and sailing technology are a very difficult challenge. Moreover, India is stuck in the middle between us and Pakistan, and the Indian fleet can easily cut off the connection between our Pacific Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet at any time, so that our two fleets will be in a situation of fighting alone.

As for Myanmar, it is too close to us to have little significance for controlling the entire Indian Ocean shipping lane. Bangladesh, on the other hand, is not only close to us, but also too close to India, and even more unsuitable. The Maldives is a small miniature country, and the players are too weak. It is difficult to shoulder the heavy responsibility of an ally.

After excluding all the unsuitables, only Sri Lanka is left with the best qualifications. Sri Lanka is located in the heart of the entire Indian Ocean, only 2,600 kilometers from Singapore, from which it can radiate and control the entire Indian Ocean. It is about half that of Pakistan. Although Sri Lanka is also a small country, it is far stronger than the Maldives. The Indian Ocean Fleet is stationed here, and it can cooperate with our Pacific Fleet. It is not easy to be cut off by the Indian fleet.

So I propose that the headquarters of our Indian Ocean Naval Fleet be located in Sri Lanka. Then use Sri Lanka as a springboard to Pakistan to aid Pakistani players against Indian players. What do you think about this? ”

The deputy commanders agreed.

The Chinese side sent a mission of dozens of people led by players at the level of deputy commander. Take a boat trip to the Kingdom of Sri Lanka and visit some of the most important local territories. Lobbying these players who control the ports of Sri Lanka. Accept Chinese players to set up an Indian Ocean Naval Command with them and station in the naval fleet.

The arrival of this Chinese mission in Sri Lanka caused a stir among local players. The Chinese players offered to set up the Indian Ocean Command of the Great Zhou Dynasty in Sri Lanka and lease the port of Sri Lanka to station the fleet, and the lucrative exchange conditions offered made Sri Lankan players excited.

If agreed, the Chinese seafaring caravan would see Sri Lanka as a trade hub in the Indian Ocean, establish a trading point, and bring in a large number of Chinese trade goods. Sri Lankan players will be able to make a significant profit from this. This can be seen in Singapore. Singapore has little advantage over other countries in Southeast Asia. However, after becoming the trade hub of Chinese players in Southeast Asia, it has become the richest country in Southeast Asia.

If Sri Lanka accepts the request of the Chinese player. Then Sri Lanka is well placed to become one of the most brilliant pearls in the Indian Ocean in a very short period of time. Unfortunately, this "good" thought has not been too much in the minds of Sri Lankan players before it is shattered by the cruel reality.

The arrival of this Chinese mission did not escape the eyes of Indian players, and the pressure brought by the Chinese Pacific Fleet to Indian players was extremely high, and Indian players paid close attention to every move of the Chinese side. The Chinese mission had only recently arrived in Sri Lanka, and a larger Indian player mission had also arrived.

The Indian mission was very simple, angrily and directly threatened the Sri Lankan player territory, if it dared to let the Chinese fleet station in Sri Lanka, then wait for India and Sri Lanka to go to war.

Sri Lankan players suddenly woke up to the benefits given by Chinese players, but they are not so easy to eat. The premise of eating the benefits is to offend the Indian players. Although Sri Lanka has a lot of complaints about Indian players, it is still impossible for them to offend Indian players and curry favor with Chinese players in the current situation. After all, Sri Lanka is next to India, India is huge, and if you look up and don't look down, you will offend Indian players, and Sri Lanka will not have a good life.

They do not want to get involved in the Sino-Indian hegemony in the Indian Ocean. In the event that China and India go to war over the Indian Ocean, and China has troops stationed in Sri Lanka, it would be very irrational to burn the flames of war on Sri Lanka.

Receiving a strong warning from the Indian mission, the leaders of the players in Sri Lanka changed their attitude sharply and politely refused the Chinese mission's request to lease the port. And explained the reason, hoping to obtain the understanding of the Chinese mission.

The Chinese mission was furious, and it seemed that it might succeed in lobbying for Sri Lankan players to take the leased port, but they were unexpectedly disrupted by the Indian mission. At the port of Colombo, the Chinese mission happened to encounter the Indian mission, and the two sides almost tore up on the spot. Fortunately, it was dissuaded by Sri Lankan players in time, so it did not cause a direct conflict.

However, the Sri Lankan players are only capable of persuasion, and cannot reconcile the deep-seated conflicts of interest between Chinese and Indian players.

At this time, a third party of sufficient weight emerged and suddenly intervened to mediate the contradictions between China and India.

That's a caravan of players from an Arab country.

The strength of the fleets of Arab countries in the Arabian Sea is not small, especially the caravans of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Oman and other countries are very active, they frequently shuttle through the Arabian Sea, back and forth between India and Sri Lanka and other places, purchasing Indian spices and ceramics and silk from China, and then sold to Western Europe at a high price by Arab merchants to obtain huge trade profits.

Hearing that the Chinese and Indian players were fuelled by the smell of gunpowder, the Arab businessmen became nervous and hurried to mediate. Once the Chinese and Indian player fleets start a war, no matter who wins or loses, it will affect the maritime trade in the Indian Ocean, disrupt the trade, lead to shortages of various materials, and soaring prices. This will obviously hurt their interests.

The players in both China and India were not impressed by the Sino-Indian war, but they became nervous at first, not only persuaded the Chinese and Indian delegations to a dinner, sat down together to discuss the resolution of the conflict, and tried to mediate the conflict between the two sides.

The navy of the Arab countries is strong, and the influence of Arab businessmen is also very huge, and this face cannot be denied. Moreover, after the Chinese fleet enters the Indian Ocean, the main trade partners in the future will also be Arab merchants, and it is necessary to establish good relations.

The Chinese delegation was invited to attend the dinner.

The Indian mission, unwilling to offend the Arab merchants, was invited to the banquet.

The players of the two countries finally sat down together and looked for a peaceful solution to the problem. However, conflicts of interest cannot be resolved in a few words, let alone sitting down and talking, and the two sides are not speculative, competing with each other, and the smell of gunpowder is getting stronger and stronger.

The Chinese envoy sternly said: "If we don't enter the Indian Ocean, you can!" But India must immediately withdraw its troops from Pakistan and give up all the occupied lands, otherwise the Chinese fleet must enter the Indian Ocean. ”

The Indian envoy said angrily: "This is the national war between India and Pakistan, why should you Chinese intervene?" ”

The Chinese envoy snorted: "Pakistan is an ally of China, and if you attack our ally, we will naturally take care of it." What is the reason why you are asking us to ignore Pakistan, but when we enter Sri Lanka, you forcibly prohibit Sri Lankan players from contacting us? There are only two ways ahead, one is for you to withdraw your troops from Pakistan immediately, and the other is for you to give up any interference in Sri Lanka, otherwise we have nothing to talk about. ”

The Indian envoys were speechless for a moment, trying to gain the upper hand in their tongues, but they were obviously still a little tender.

Arab businessmen mediated and tried to persuade both sides to exercise restraint. Void. The Indian mission departed angrily, and soon left Sri Lanka and returned to India - they no longer intended to argue with China about who was right and who was wrong, but to speak with the fleet.

India began to enter a full-scale general mobilization, while the 6th Army stepped up its attack on Pakistan, and at the same time urgently mobilized the naval fleet to masse in the Chennai area. For a time, the atmosphere in the Indian Ocean suddenly became tense.