Su Chen finally gave up on his plan to sneak back to Datang quietly.
First, a group of arrogant generals were unhappy;
Secondly, Su Chen also wanted to see how strong the guys in the strait were.
However, Su Chen had no intention of fighting with the other party.
As Liu Rengui said, it is still possible to approach from the east side of the strait, test the opponent's strength, and then retreat directly.
The fleet returned to the Maluku Islands, picked up the sergeants who picked and dried spices on the islands, and then turned around and sailed towards the Strait of Malacca.
Xue Rengui was also stunned by the spice trees all over the island. Look at the spices that the sergeants filled the cabin with.
"Commander, let's go back to the Tang Dynasty directly. The soldiers have worked hard to pick so many spices. If anything goes wrong, it will be a huge loss."
Su Chen: "We have two ships without weapons and filled with spices. How about you take those two ships back first?"
Xue Rengui shrugged: "Forget it, I still want to stay in the navy in the future!"
On the way to the Straits of Malacca, Li Chengqian approached Su Chen: "Teacher, students should not have questioned the teacher's military decision a few days ago."
Su Chen shook his head. After all, Li Chengqian was the prince of the Tang Dynasty. It was impossible for him to not interfere with the fleet at all. He had already done a good job in Dashi.
"It's good for Your Highness to have your own ideas!"
"What we were talking about at the beginning was that during the expedition to Dashi, His Highness would not interfere in military operations. Now that the expedition against Dashi has ended, His Highness can just say so if he has any opinions."
Li Chengqian: "As long as the teacher doesn't blame you!"
"It's not that the student deliberately contradicted the teacher, it's just that the student was very angry at the time. I didn't expect that those remnants of the powerful family would torture me so rampantly that they dared to hit my Royal Navy's attention!"
Su Chen smiled: "Your Highness, just pay attention to controlling your emotions from now on,"
"It's just that Your Highness, the other party probably doesn't want to take advantage of our navy."
Li Chengqian was stunned: "Teacher, what do they want to do?"
Su Chen: "Your Highness, don't forget your identity!"
"If anything happens to His Highness, the Tang Dynasty will be in chaos!"
Due to Su Chen's intrusion, there is a huge difference between the current Li Chengqian and the historical Li Chengqian.
The current status of Prince Li Chengqian is unbreakable, and other princes have no chance at all.
And judging from the current situation, after Li Chengqian succeeds to the throne in the future, he will definitely further promote various institutional changes in Datang.
Li Chengqian is currently not only the public enemy of all other princes, but also a thorn in the flesh of those remnants of the family.
Li Chengqian pointed at himself: "The teacher said they might be coming for me?"
Su Chen: "Your Highness, no matter how powerful the remnants of the clan are, they cannot have the military strength to confront the Tang Dynasty."
"It's okay for them to hide in the dark and wreak havoc. If they blatantly attack the Tang army, they are declaring war on His Majesty and will completely anger His Majesty."
"This is not in the interest of the remnants of those powerful families. It is said that they are still in a dormant period, and quietly developing overseas strength is what they should do now."
"Besides, what if they can destroy a fleet?"
"We in the Tang Dynasty can build more fleets. Didn't you say last year that His Majesty was planning to expand the size of the navy? You said that a new fleet must have been formed."
"But it would be different if I could capture you, Your Highness!"
Li Chengqian frowned: "So the teacher said it was for the safety of the fleet, but it was actually for my safety?"
Su Chen: "There is such a certain reason, and I really don't want to go into a battle without preparation."
Li Chengqian frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly smiled and said: "Teacher, maybe those remnants of the clan are here for you."
"The person most hated by the wealthy family members is probably you, teacher! Without the many novelties you brought to the Tang Dynasty, teacher, my father would not have been able to attack the wealthy family."
"They are worried that the teacher will come up with some new things or propose some new policies and completely eliminate them, so you attack the teacher first."
Su Chen shrugged: "It's also possible!"
Li Chengqian: "Then the teacher still agrees to go to Malacca?"
Su Chen: "This is to test the enemy's strength. Given the terrain of the Strait of Malacca, we approach from the east. If something goes wrong, we can evacuate in time."
"The good thing about being on this vast sea is that as long as we want to run away, no one can catch us."
Several paddle-sail warships were left in the Persian Gulf by Su Chen.
Without their drag, the navy fleet ships were so fast that Su Chen estimated that the imitation ships of the remaining members of the clan would still be able to catch up.
…
The fleet approached the Strait of Malacca from the southeast and was not discovered by the pirates in the strait until it reached the entrance. This surprised the pirates who had been waiting in the strait!
Didn’t it say that the Tang Navy would come from the west of the strait?
Why did it suddenly appear behind you?
The Singapore Strait, the easternmost section of the Strait of Malacca, has a very narrow channel. Most of the pirate ships were there waiting to ambush the Tang Dynasty navy!
Now the naval fleet appeared outside the entrance of the strait, and all the pirates were blocked in the narrow strait.
If Su Chen is willing, he can send some ships northward along the east side of Sumatra Island at the same time.
In this way, pirates can be blocked from both ends of the Singapore Strait, completely blocking the pirates in the narrow Singapore Strait, just like last year when the Japanese ships ambush the naval fleet.
The terrain of the Singapore Strait is like this: you can hide in the strait and ambush others, but once others know that you are in the strait, they can completely block you in the strait from both ends.
This is why Liu Rengui and others initially thought that you could destroy this group of pirates. What a God-given opportunity!
Su Chen didn't think so: Who knows what the strength of these pirates raised by the remnants of the wealthy family is?
Once the opponent's strength is strong enough, the naval fleet will not be able to stop them at all, and will plunge their own fleet into the strait, causing huge losses.
So it’s better to test the opponent’s strength from the eastern entrance of the strait.
As for eliminating them, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.
It won't be too late to upgrade the equipment when the naval fleet returns this time.
Seeing that the military fleet appeared at the eastern entrance of the strait,
The pirates in the strait immediately rushed out to avoid being blocked in the narrow strait.
They didn't just have Su Chen's plan, but they were also afraid that they would be stuck in the narrow strait.
Su Chen ordered the main force of gunboats to approach the entrance of the strait in unison, making a gesture of blocking the entrance.
Several pirate ships immediately came up to prevent the gunboat from moving forward and gain more operating area for the ships behind it that continued to rush out from the strait.
Seeing the pirate ship entering the firing range, the main gunboat immediately launched the first round of bombardment!
However, the distance between the two sides was still far, and the navy's first round of bombardment had almost no effect.
