The capital of the Ottomans, which was already next to Greece, naturally could not go there immediately, so they had to take a boat to the Mediterranean.

The next stop of the envoys was the port city of Sohar.

Hundreds of years later, it belonged to Oman, but now it belongs to Jabrid.

At its peak, the Jabrid dynasty was able to control the entire Arabian coast, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Before the fall of the dynasty, three brothers ruled Oman, the northern shore of Oman, Bahrain and the surrounding areas. At this time, the Portuguese came, the ships were strong, the guns were strong, and the dynasty quickly disintegrated.

Today, it is divided into many tribes, and a branch of the royal family continues to rule a small area, with the main territory remaining only in the UAE and the northwestern coast of Oman.

The navy that once dominated the Arabian coast also degenerated into pirates large and small with the collapse of the dynasty.

At this moment, King Saif I of Oman is using his prestige to co-opt these pirates.

Last year off the coast of Muscat, Oman fought Portugal. Two Omani warships were captured by the Portuguese, and more than a dozen were heavily damaged, under the command of Saif I

Determined to develop the navy, it was naturally a shortcut to co-opt nearby pirates.

The Chinese fleet sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz, and a group of pirates watched from afar, red-eyed and at the same time afraid to move.

"Are these pirates, or are they the navies of which country?"

Fan Chao held the clairvoyant mirror, always feeling that the other party had bad intentions.

But it may also be that if it is the navy of a certain country, it is normal to be on guard in the open sea.

Fan Chao put away the clairvoyant mirror and said to the adjutant: "Raise the flag, let the ships be ready, and fire immediately if they find an abnormality!"

The envoy fleet continued to advance, and the pirate ships retreated farther and farther away, until they finally retreated to the port of Sohar, which was the target of the Chinese mission.

The pirates were also surprised, this is a pirate den, is the other party going to kill themselves?

The pirate ships fled the harbor in droves, and some of the pirates disembarked and ran to the city to report to the ruler.

The ruler was called Zaid ibn Zamir and belonged to the descendants of the Jabrid dynasty. Those pirates outside can be said to be his navy, or they can be said to have nothing to do with fart.

Hearing that a fleet was coming, Zeid shouted in fright: "Gather all the troops, send people at once, and call the warriors of all tribes here too!"

There were only 300 cavalry in the city, and the rest were all infantry, and there were no musketeers.

About 40 minutes later, the port collector came and reported: "Master, there is a fleet of envoys from China outside, and they have asked to come into the city to visit the master." ’

At the same time, an Arab merchant arrived, who explained to Zeid: "China is a very powerful country in the far east, and the silk worn by the Persian nobles comes from there. They had just arrived from Persia and had heard that they had been warmly received by the emperor and that they were trustworthy messengers of peace.

"I see, please let the Chinese envoy into the city." Zeid was finally reassured.

After the merchants and tax collectors had left, the pirate leader, who had fled into the city, suddenly said, "If the silk comes from China, there is innumerable treasure on these ships." You can lure their army into the city, seize the leader of the army, and force the ships to surrender.

Such a bold and ransical idea, Zeid was moved.

The core ruling area of this cargo is only a port city, and there are several surrounding tribes, and the rest of the territory is only nominally subordinate to him, and he usually has to cooperate with pirates to make money.

In a word, poor madness!

Lu Tianxiang and Zhang Ruifeng went ashore with 2,000 soldiers, and when they entered the city, they were only allowed to bring half of them in.

Those pirates were already very strange, and the members of the mission were always vigilant, but now they felt very wrong.

Zheng Dayong, the commander of the emperor's personal guard, had already served as the head of the regiment in the north before he was transferred back to Nanjing. He frowned at this time and said: "If we two thousand soldiers go ashore, we will either let all of us enter the city, or like the Persian emperor, we will only be allowed to bring two or three hundred soldiers into the city." No more, no less, let us take a thousand soldiers in and divide our army in two. What is this trying to do? ”

Shi Lang said: "Divide and annihilate." ”

Zhang Ruifeng was undecided and looked at Lu Tianxiang: "Niangniang, do you want to enter the city?" ”

Lu Tianxiang didn't answer immediately, but asked Zheng Dayong: "Commander Zheng is a fierce general on the battlefield, what suggestions can be said."

Zheng Dayong said: "If you want to enter the city, you must first send someone back to the ship to report the news." Let the fleet be ready for battle, those unknown ships at sea may attack at any time. Another 1,000 navy was brought ashore to work with the troops who remained outside the city. Niangniang and Ambassador Zhang stayed outside the city in case of accidents, and the minister brought people in to find out the situation.

If there is any movement in the city, immediately let the warships bombard the city wall, and Niangniang can command the army to attack

Hit this city. ”

"This is too risky, what if the enemy army has a fire command and the troops who enter are ambushed by firearms? It is better to return to the ship immediately and only send a few envoys into the city to negotiate. For such a small state, a few messengers are enough. "After Lu Tianxiang went to sea, he couldn't let go and chose the safest way.

On the contrary, Zhang Ruifeng, who seemed to be calm, was eager to make a great contribution, and said: "If you say that you will enter the city, if you give up halfway, won't you lose the face of the Heavenly Empire?" In this way, the mother stayed outside the city to respond, and the minister took the soldiers into the city to check. ”

Lu Tianxiang felt that he didn't understand military affairs and diplomacy, so he should listen to the opinions of the audience. She turned her head to look at the civil and military officers, and found that they were all eager to try, so she had to swallow the words of opposition back to her stomach.

The army of the Datong court has always been invincible, which has caused the civil and military officials to be proud and not take this kind of small state in their eyes at all.

Lu Tianxiang, who seems to be the most superfluous, is the most normal one, because she is worried that she will make a mistake, so she always remembers to act cautiously.

Two thousand soldiers, divided into two.

A thousand emperors guarded their bodies, all dressed in armor, ready to enter the city. A thousand naval non-commissioned officers, stay outside the city and respond at any time.

While sending the men back to the ship, several guards rode around the city to observe. They did not bring many horses, but they bought some in India on the way, and now there are thirty-two in all.

Although they are all proud soldiers, when they really want to take risks, they are ready for anything.

After a short time, the sentry returned halfway back and reported the news: "There are only two batteries in this city, all in the direction of the port. Entering the city from the front, the troops entering the city will not be subjected to shelling, but the troops outside the city should be shifted. ”

Another sentinel said: "There are miles outside the city, and the terrain is unobstructed, and it is difficult to set up ambushes. If there are ambushes, they must be all in the city.

All the preparations were done, Zhang Ruifeng held his head high, with a full armor

Thousands of soldiers entered the city.

There was only one earthen city, and it was very dilapidated, and some of the walls were cracked.

Although Zhang Ruifeng was apprehensive, he was extremely excited. If the chieftain here doesn't open his eyes and really makes a black hand, he can lead the army to destroy the country and achieve Ban Dingyuan's immortal feat!

Lu Tianxiang watched them enter the city, always feeling that something was going to be wrong, but he didn't know how to stop it.

Zaid changed into a chain mail and stood on the earthen wall. Three hundred plate-armored guards, two hundred fire guards, and five hundred heavily armored guards, equipped with almost luxurious troops, made the Arab chieftain tremble, and at the same time greedy to the point that his eyes were red.

As long as you lure these troops into the city, you will ambush him and kill him by surprise.

After eating the troops entering the city, let the cavalry attack the troops outside the city. Even if he could not force the warships at sea to surrender and grab so much armor and weapons, it would be enough for him to raise a powerful army, conquer the entire Arabian Peninsula, and restore the glory of his ancestors a hundred years ago.

The city gate was opened, and the officials here led Zhang Ruifeng into the city with trepidation.

Zhang Ruifeng glanced at the official's expression, and he already knew it, and sneered: "Put down your armor." ”

Zheng Da raised his hand and pulled it, like a helmet and helmet, and immediately lowered the retractable armor to protect the whole circle of his neck. The rest of the soldiers also followed suit.

One side has a bad intention to set up an ambush.

One side went deep into the tiger's den, intending to bloom from the city and directly occupy this earthen city.

The officials who went forward to a certain intersection and guided them forward suddenly slipped away.

Seeing this, Zheng Dayong shouted: "Stop moving forward and line up!" ”

"Brush, brush!"

Arrows rained down in all directions, and there were archers lying in ambush everywhere on the roofs of the surrounding houses.

In the southeast and southeast directions, many infantry with scimitars and spears rushed in. The sound of rumbling horses' hooves sounded in the west, and hundreds of Arab cavalry rushed straight to the flank of the Datong army. Ordinary troops, suddenly ambushed and met with enemies in three directions, may have fled to the north, where there is no enemy.

This is the idea that Zaid fought, and even knew that the siege was missing one, and in his opinion, the Datong army would collapse, and no matter how good the equipment was, it would not be able to withstand the ups and downs.

But the Datong army had already been mentally prepared, allowing the rain of arrows to shoot on their bodies, clanging non-stop, and all of them were blocked by armor.

On the periphery of the formation, the whole station was heavily armored spear guards, raising their spears and facing outward.

On the other hand, these Arab infantry were so poor that they could only wear leather armor, and some of them did not even have leather armor. A force of infantry from the south came to kill, facing a hedgehog-like spear formation, and was already terrified and frightened before it could be killed.

Spear for spear.

The Datong army cooperated tacitly, and the Arab soldiers fought separately. Not to mention, the spears of the Arab soldiers could not pierce the armor of the Datong army at all. And the Datong Army stabbed out with one shot, it can be said that the gun went into the flesh and saw blood.

At the moment of engagement, the Arab soldiers showed signs of collapse.

Zaid personally led the cavalry and rushed towards the flank of the Datong army. He believed in the power of cavalry, and the enemy in front of him was all infantry, and he must have been so frightened that he scattered and fled.

But in the face of the cavalry charge, the Datong army stood still, all raised their spears and waited in place.

"Bang bang bang!"

The fire commander guards who were hiding in the formation finally opened fire.

What the heck?

Although Zeid did not have musketeers, he knew what arquebuses were like, and with such a dense formation, still hidden in the military formation, it was impossible for arquebuses to be fired. Moreover, he had just observed that the enemy's musketeers did not place arquebuses at all.

Arquebuses do need space, but flintlock pistols don't.

The Arab cavalry in the front row suddenly turned on their backs.

Finally rushed closer, and in the face of the long guns, the war horse automatically chose the brake. Clever horses are also afraid of death, and it is impossible to charge straight at spears or bayonets, which is the main reason why the infantry hollow formation can deal with cavalry.

"Kill!"

Three hundred plate-armored guards, carrying war hammers, crossed the spear formation.

The Arab infantry, which was on the verge of collapse, subconsciously stabbed at these monsters. Some of the plate guards were stabbed down, and they tried to get up with great difficulty, but they seemed to be embarrassed but were not injured.

More plate-armored guards, striding forward among the countless spears, wielding their hammers, one hammer at a time.

"Run!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Zaid led his cavalry and slipped away, turning and running through the narrow streets. He couldn't even care about his wife and children, these enemies in front of him were too terrible, so he still fled out of the city with the cavalry first.

There was no need for friendly troops outside the city to respond, and the Datong army, which entered the city, had already won a decisive victory.

At this moment, 1,000 naval non-commissioned officers are outside the eastern city, and 1,000 naval non-commissioned officers are outside the western city, and sentinels are set up on all sides to observe the situation.

"Woooooooooooo

The sentry riders to the north blew their horns.

Lu Tianxiang was suddenly shocked, raised his knife and shouted: "Kill the enemy with me!" ”

This imperial concubine, with only more than 20 horsemen, went to chase and kill more than 200 Arab cavalry.