Sun Renshi led the Second Fleet and sailed westward for more than three hundred miles along the northern shore of the Gulf of Oman. Finally, at a small port called Jed, he saw the First Fleet waiting for him there.
After the two fleets met and rendezvous, Sun Renshi came to Su Chen's ship.
"I have met His Highness the Crown Prince! I have met the Marshal!"
"General Sun, you have worked hard all the way!"
After a few words of greeting, Liu Rengui, Cheng Wuting and others also came over one after another. We had not seen each other for two or three months and exchanged a few greetings.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Su Chen began to ask about business: "Commander Sun, has the journey been smooth?
Did you find anything special?"
Sun Renshi reported: "Commander, the journey was smooth at last. We found many supply points left by the cannibals along the way, but no cannibals were found."
Su Chen nodded: "The big eater is walking in front of you. Knowing that you are behind, he should have removed all the people along the way."
Sun Renshi continued to report: "Commander, there is something very strange!"
"According to the Persians, there should be many merchant ships from the mouth of the Sindu River to the Persian Gulf at this time."
"But the general came all the way. Except for a few small boats from Tianzhu, he didn't encounter any other ships."
Su Chen said: "It's the same here. Coming from the Red Sea, we didn't see a single large ship. The entire Gulf of Oman is also empty."
"We guess that the Great Cannibal has gathered all the ships in the Strait of Hormuz!"
Sun Renshi: "Guess?"
Su Chen nodded and said, "It's just a guess. The place in Hormuz is too dangerous, and we have no plans to attack the Strait of Hormuz recently, so we didn't conduct an in-depth investigation."
Sun Renshi frowned: "Commander, if the Great Eaters gather all the ships in Hormuz, it will be very difficult for us to attack by force, even if our ships are strong and powerful."
Su Chen smiled and said: "So we have to be fully prepared and we can't rush."
"We have an agreement with Byzantium to launch an attack at the same time in a month. They also need time to mobilize their troops."
"Byzantium?"
Sun Renshi was stunned: "We have contacted Byzantium?"
"Of course, why don't I take the fleet to the Red Sea?"
Su Chen continued: "So we are not in a hurry. We will first carefully find out the details of the nearby two sides of the strait and see if we can find some help."
Master Sun Ren asked: "Then what should we do now, just repair it here?"
Su Chen shook his head: "It can't work here, it's too far from the Strait of Hormuz."
"The Persians said that there is a larger port called Jask outside the east entrance of the Strait of Hormuz. Let's go there."
After saying that, Su Chen asked someone to spread out the map: "Here, here."
Master Sun Ren took a look and saw that it was almost reaching the herringbone bend of the Strait of Hormuz.
"The fleet will rest for a day today and set sail for Jask tomorrow."
"There must be heavy cannibal guards there. Commander Sun, I hope you will lead the Second Fleet to take down Jask this time."
Master Sun Ren clasped his fists: "Yes! I will obey the general's order!"
Su Chen smiled and said, "Well, on the way, you, Liu Rengui, and Cheng Wu will help them learn more about the combat characteristics of the cannibals."
The Second Fleet had just arrived and had not yet fought against the Big Eater. Su Chen was going to let them practice their skills at Jask Port.
The fleet continued sailing westward the next day and entered the depths of the Gulf of Oman, when it finally discovered the cannibal patrol ship.
"You saw us from afar and turned around and ran away?"
"It seems that the Great Cannibal has no intention of fighting us until Hormuz."
Li Chengqian said: "Malacca was defeated so miserably, and the cannibal is not stupid, how could he come here to die without any trouble?"
Su Chen said with a smile: "Actually, eating people is a stupid way to gather all the ships together. Once it fails, there will be no way to fight back."
"But it's good for us. It's all in one battle!"
Liu Rengui on the side responded: "The Great Eater has such a good terrain advantage, of course it must be used to the extreme."
"If they can hit us hard in Hormuz, it will be a victory for them."
"And for them, this should be the last choice."
Two days later, the fleet arrived outside the port of Jax and found that all the food ships in the harbor had evacuated.
Master Sun Ren thought he had gotten a bargain, but when he raised his telescope and took a look, he immediately felt ashamed.
"This big man-eater removed the ships from the harbor, but left so many people on the shore?"
"Brewed wine, and cannons, there are quite a lot of them!"
Su Chen also used a telescope to observe the shore for a while:
"The defenders in Medina were not equipped with artillery, but there are so many here!"
"The Byzantine envoy said that they have never encountered the cannon of the Great Cannibal. This should be the first time that the cannon of the Great Cannibal has been put into use."
Liu Rengui widened his eyes and said, "The Great Eater wants to test the power of his artillery on us?"
Su Chen smiled and said: "I guess so! But they will definitely be disappointed!"
Even if the Big Eater got the blueprint of the artillery, the iron smelting technology and casting technology cannot be improved quickly.
Su Chen didn't think the cannons of the Great Eater would be very powerful.
"Master Sun Ren, put eight main gunboats under your command to quickly defeat the enemies on the shore."
"It just so happens that we also need to practice beach landing operations. The Great Eater will give us an opportunity."
Master Sun Ren took the order and went to lay out tactics.
"This is not far from Hormuz, and the wind direction today is also favorable for the cannibals,"
"Liu Rengui, let the other warships spread out in formation outside the harbor to prevent the giant eater from suddenly rushing out of the Persian Gulf. Patrol ships should also keep farther away."
Along the Red Sea, the Great Eaters had almost no defenses. The fleet could dock wherever it wanted, but certainly not in the Persian Gulf.
The entire fleet was well arranged, and Su Chen stood on the bow, ready to take a good look at the first landing battle of the Royal Navy of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Chengqian, Xue Rengui and others stood on both sides of Su Chen. Elsa, Hashem and her sister also ran out and stared at the shore.
Master Sun Ren was more cautious and did not let the main gunboats come forward directly. Instead, he asked the two oar-sail warships to test the situation first.
The galley quickly moved forward, and the two bow guns attacked the shore first.
Boom! Boom!
Two shells flew onto the coast, but unfortunately failed to hit their targets.
The coastal defense artillery installed on the shore turret also began to fight back.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After a roar, a large splash of water appeared hundreds of meters in front of the galley!
Su Chen put down the telescope: "As expected, the power of the Cannibal's artillery is still far behind."
Li Chengqian also smiled and said: "The range is less than a thousand meters, right?"
Su Chen nodded: "Probably not, but it's not bad."
"The artillery that our General of the Tang Dynasty cast for the first time is not as good as the Great Cannibal!"
