After arriving in Gohe Prefecture, the landing fleet underwent large-scale rest and reorganization. These ships needed to be repaired, especially those equipped with steam engines. The steam engines needed to be overhauled on a large scale, and a large amount of various supplies also needed to be replenished.
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The soldiers disembarked from the ship and rested on the ground, taking a good rest and relaxing. It was very uncomfortable to be on the ship for several months. Even though they were specially trained troops prepared for cross-sea landing operations, they were still very uncomfortable.
The hardship would have driven them crazy if they had not been able to dock at ports along the way and then go ashore to rest.
This rest and recuperation lasted for half a month. Half a month later, Dong Qiankun took his soldiers to board the ship again and set off. If they continued to go south this time, they would not stop docking for rest.
It will go straight to the island of Ceylon for landing.
Just when Dong Qiankun and others set off in a large-scale joint landing fleet, the Portuguese people on Ceylon Island also knew the news early.
The Portuguese have their ships on various routes in the Indian Ocean, and the most important thing is that the Second Joint Landing Fleet has nearly a hundred ships. Although some of them are small, they are all ocean-going ships, no matter how small they are.
Three to four hundred tons, so many large ships went all the way south from the mainland of the empire, then passed through Malacca, and finally arrived at Gohe State.
This movement was very loud, just like a person holding a lit firecracker swaggering through the market. Let alone hiding it from outsiders, it would be difficult for ordinary people not to know.
Therefore, as soon as this huge fleet arrived in Malacca, the news that Datang organized a large fleet to go to sea had basically spread throughout the entire Indian Ocean, and the Portuguese people were naturally very aware of it.
Although we still don't know where this huge fleet is going and what it is going to do, one thing is unmistakable, that is, they are definitely going to launch some large-scale offensive.
Otherwise, there would be no need to organize such a huge fleet.
The expenses required to organize such a large fleet are gone, and Datang will not be able to organize such a large fleet and travel with tens of thousands of soldiers...
They definitely have a goal!
But where is the target?
There are many, it may be to directly reinforce the Indian peninsula, or it may be to attack the island of Ceylon. Of course, the most likely one is to attack the island of Ceylon and the southern tip of the opposite Indian peninsula.
Due to its important geographical location, this place has been a key defense area for the Portuguese people since the war broke out between the Portuguese and the Empire. Datang tried to attack it several times but failed.
This time, it is very likely that the Tang Dynasty will attack this area with force.
This speculation also made the local grape people nervous, and they started preparing for the war half a month ago!
But so what if we prepare for war, the most we can do is build fortifications and the like. As for adding reinforcements, don't expect it.
In order to reinforce the Indian battlefield, the Tang Dynasty spent several months to reinforce more than 10,000 people to the Indian Ocean battlefield. Even if the Portuguese moved quickly, there was no way they wanted to mobilize troops from other places to reinforce this place.
It can't be done in two months.
This is also a major feature of the Indian Ocean battlefield, that is, limited by distance, the deployment of troops on both sides is calculated on a monthly basis.
However, although there are no reinforcements, it does not mean that the Portuguese have no resistance. They have long known that this place is important and have deployed troops in the north and south of Ceylon Island. In the southern part of Ceylon Island, Portugal also controls Ceylon Island.
Even Colombo, an important stronghold that blocks the Palk Strait, has at least 6,000 troops stationed there. Among these troops, there are at least 2,000 Portuguese local soldiers, and the rest are colonial troops.
Nega City in the southwestern part of the Indian Peninsula, separated from the Island of Ceylon by the Palk Strait, is a very pure military fortress with more than 4,000 troops stationed there.
It is worth noting that this poor place was just a small or even dispensable supply port a few years ago, and the Portuguese did not pay much attention to it at all.
However, as the Tang Dynasty Western Company entered the Indian Ocean and established a stronghold in the northern part of Ceylon Island in an attempt to control the Palk Strait, the Portuguese paid more attention to this area and successively established military strongholds in Nega City.
A military stronghold was established in the northern part of the island of Ceylon, called North Coron City.
The Datang Western Company fought several times in an attempt to capture it but failed. Instead, it encouraged the Portuguese to continue to increase their troops and defend these two places. They also supported each other and became an important military stronghold for the Portuguese to control the Palk Strait.
Later, the Tang Dynasty could only set up military strongholds in the northeastern area of Ceylon Island to fight against the Portuguese.
The core target of this expedition was not actually Colombo, the Portuguese's largest stronghold on the island of Ceylon, but the city of Nega and North Colon.
Both of these two cities have very typical characteristics, that is, they are purely military strongholds, but they are not important commercial centers. Their biggest role is to control the Palk Strait.
And they didn't exist in the early years. They were built in recent years because of the attention of the Portuguese people.
But since it was built, it has become a thorn in the side of Datang Western Company.
Because as long as there are these two places, the Portuguese can almost monitor the Palk Strait at any time and at the same time ambush the fleet in the Palk Strait.
If Datang's merchant ships passed through, they would be easily intercepted.
Therefore, in recent years, whether it is the merchant ships of the Tang Dynasty Western Company or the military transport ships in the past year, they have basically been concentrated and then forced through.
As for the passage of one or two ships, it is not impossible, but they can only sneak past under the cover of night.
There is no other way. The Portuguese people control these two strongholds and naturally have an advantage.
Fortunately, if the Tang Dynasty's fleet forced its way through, the Portuguese generally would not dare to block it, because if the Tang Dynasty's fleet forced its way through, it would not be a few ships, but at least a dozen or even a few ships.
More ships were passing through together, and the Portuguese simply couldn't stop them.
Therefore, whether it is to ensure the safety of navigation or to block this seafood in the future, these two places must be taken down.
As for Colombo, although it is important, that is a follow-up matter. After the Palk Strait is controlled, it is time to attack Colombo.
Datang's Second Joint Landing Fleet moved south in a big way. They had no intention of hiding it along the way, and they couldn't hide it!
As they headed south in such a swagger, the Portuguese ships along the way were basically able to see this large and densely packed ship on the sea, and then they were frightened and turned around and ran away.
The escorting naval warships were too lazy to pay attention to these Portuguese ships. As long as they didn't take the initiative to seek death, they would not pay attention. After all, they had a mission to cover the landing fleet safely.
The landing fleet went all the way south, and it didn't take long to reach the northern part of Ceylon Island. However, it did not go directly to North Coron City for landing. Although the landing fleet was not afraid of the Portuguese, it was better to be cautious in order to avoid accidents.
The place where they landed was Mali City, located in the northeast of Ceylon Island. This was the most important stronghold of the Tang Empire on Ceylon Island. Although it was small, it had night port facilities and was only two meters away from North Coron City.
More than ten kilometers of road.
In order to avoid unnecessary risks, the landing fleet chose the simplest and most reliable landing method, which was to land in Mali City and then kill directly from the land!
Some people may ask, do the local indigenous people have any objections to directly landing on Ceylon Island and then fighting the Portuguese on Ceylon Island?
The generals of the Tang Dynasty probably had some objections, but so what?
Besides, the Tang Dynasty and the Portuguese have been at war in India for more than a year, and no Indian native kingdom has come out and said: "You two bandits are not allowed to fight in my house!"
No, maybe some natives said this or similar words, or even took corresponding actions, but they were ruthlessly suppressed by the Tang Dynasty King or the Portuguese army!
If the Tang Dynasty and Portugal regarded each other as enemies, then they had one thing in common, that is, they did not pay attention to the local indigenous people at all, and did not even regard them as human beings.
So in the past year, the Tang Dynasty and the Portuguese people fought very lively in India, but the Tang Dynasty and the Portuguese people did not die much, but many local indigenous kingdoms were wiped out!
These are all unlucky indigenous kingdoms that were affected by the war, especially the local indigenous kingdoms close to the Tang Dynasty or the Portuguese colonies. Most of them were very unlucky.
He stayed at home honestly, but suddenly two robbers ran in and started fighting without saying a word. As a result, the two robbers did nothing wrong, but instead brought disaster to his master...
The same is true on the island of Ceylon today. There are indigenous kingdoms there, but the Tang Dynasty didn't care about these indigenous kingdoms, and neither did the Portuguese.
But it can't be said that they don't care at all, at least when they are building fortresses, they will still capture many natives as free labor.
When the ship docked and Dong Qiankun boarded the dock in Mali City, the feeling of having his feet on the ground made him look much better.
Even though he had done a lot of boating, he himself would not get seasick, but he was still bored after months of riding on the boat. Only when he landed ashore did he feel completely relieved.
As an army general, he always felt that it was unsafe to run at sea, so he felt safer on the ground.
The first thing Dong Qiankun did when he landed was to ask the troops to quickly disembark and move their equipment, and then set off to attack North Coron City immediately.
This kind of thing can't be rushed. Even if things change, it will still take two days of work, so he gave the order to take a good three days' rest after getting off the ship.
As for fighting, don’t be in a hurry!
Let's have a good rest for three days, eat well and sleep well, and then go find trouble with the Portuguese.
Dong Qiankun is not in a hurry, but the Portuguese people in North Coron City, more than 20 kilometers away, are extremely anxious!