In the dictionary of the Tang Empire, South Africa specifically refers to the plains in the southernmost part of Africa. It does not refer to the local country or indigenous tribes, nor is it the name of a country in later generations.
In the eyes of the Tang Dynasty, contemporary South Africa was limited to a small plain area in the southernmost part of Africa, north of the Cape of Good Hope, about two hundred kilometers long from east to west and about one hundred meters wide from north to south. This area was what the Tang Empire saw.
South Africa, also known as the South African Plains.
If we put it in a more narrow sense, it refers specifically to the South African City, a military fortress built by the Portuguese in this area on the Cape of Good Hope.
South Africa City is a special product of this era. The fundamental purpose why the Portuguese chose to build the city here was not to colonize here. In fact, the Portuguese rarely carried out large-scale colonization overseas because of their
The local population is too small, and it is very difficult to maintain a large number of colonial commercial strongholds. It is impossible to be like the Tang Empire, which carried out large-scale immigration every time it went to an overseas colony.
The Portuguese are like this in Malacca, they are similar in India, and they are like this in Africa. That is to say, they only carried out relatively large-scale immigration in Brazil in South America.
However, in the past ten years or so, the commercial exchanges between the Portuguese and the Tang Empire have become more and more important. The Portuguese have also paid more and more attention to the routes to the East. Coupled with the emergence of the Tang Western Trading Company, and the
Establish colonies along the Indian Ocean coast to challenge the Portuguese dominance in this vast region.
This is what led the Portuguese to build many strong fortresses along the Indian Ocean coast, of which the city of Malacca is the most typical representative.
In addition, Colombo City, North Colon City, and Mane City are all well-established military strongholds. Their main purpose is to protect the routes and resist the attack of the Tang Dynasty Western Trading Company.
South Africa City is also a product of this background. It is a very pure military fortress. The Portuguese built the city here not for colonization.
Their purpose was to completely control the Cape of Good Hope, cut off the route between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, block the Tang Dynasty's ships from entering the Atlantic Ocean, and provide some supplies to the passing ships.
This kind of behavior is actually very loss-making for the Portuguese, because this city is unlikely to bring them any commercial profits. According to their past temperament, they will never build a city in such a place, but for
They chose to do this to curb the Western penetration of the Tang Dynasty and to preserve the route to the Indian Ocean.
In addition, this is also related to the huge profits they made from trade with Datang. Without huge profits, they would not be able to support their behavior of building fortresses in a series of areas such as Malacca, India, and South Africa.
The waters here are inherently windy and rough, and the Portuguese have deployed a huge fleet here, which has made it impossible for the ships of the Tang Western Trading Company to enter the Atlantic Ocean through the Cape of Good Hope for many years. South Africa City, like Colombo and Malacca City,
He became a thorn in the side of the Tang Empire and was unhappy.
The core goal of the Tang Empire's African Expeditionary Force was to capture the city of South Africa and control the waters of the Cape of Good Hope.
In this case, it would not only allow the fleet to enter the Atlantic Ocean, but also blockade the Portuguese ships and cut off their connection between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
In order to capture the city of South Africa, the Tang Empire organized a huge fleet for an expedition last year. On the way, they encountered a storm in the Indian Ocean and suffered heavy losses. It took a long time to recover, and landed in Western India, the Tang Empire's southernmost colony in Africa.
state.
Although Xiyinzhou is said to be the closest colonial stronghold of the Tang Empire to South Africa City, it is actually still very far away from South Africa City, hundreds of kilometers away.
The journey is so long and the place is unfamiliar, so this is not a good choice for marching!
But even if it is not a good choice, it is much better for the soldiers to risk strong winds and waves and the huge risk of being intercepted by the Portuguese fleet, and go directly to the door of someone's house to land.
Therefore, Dong Qiankun would rather the troops work harder, spend more time, and go directly by land, rather than sit on a boat and then be buried at the bottom of the sea inexplicably.
When Dong Qiankun led his troops to South Africa, the Indian Ocean Fleet was not idle either. They were being armed to the greatest extent and were preparing to enter the Cape of Good Hope. On the one hand, they were to cooperate with the army in combat and transport supplies to the army.
On the one hand, they also took this opportunity to capture the Portuguese main fleet at the Cape of Good Hope and then annihilate it.
Although the current fleet in the Indian Ocean in Western India is not large in size, it is not weak in strength. All battleships are sail-powered battleships equipped with steam engines, including four battleships, three cruisers and twelve frigates.
, a total of nineteen medium and large warships, plus more than thirty armed merchant ships, this strength is not weak.
Not to mention the maneuverability and tactical advantages brought by steam engines.
In June of the 24th year of Xuanping, the nearly 10,000 African expeditionary force led by Dong Qiankun finally arrived at the South African plains after going through untold hardships. After arriving at the South African plains, it meant that they were not far from the city of South Africa.
Moreover, there will be smooth terrain along the way, and there is no complicated terrain that can stop the Tang Army.
What's interesting is that although Dong Qiankun's combat troops only numbered more than 9,000 people, they were followed by a large group of local indigenous people!
These were indigenous people organized by colonial officials in Western India to help transport supplies.
Although the Tang Empire also had some troops stationed in Western India and immigrated thousands of people from the country, it was impossible to maintain a supply line hundreds of kilometers long.
In fact, the African Expeditionary Force marched along the coastline, and the navy's fleet accompanied the voyage along the seaside and provided supplies at any time.
In addition, some local indigenous people were recruited to serve as laborers to transport supplies.
When Dong Qiankun's African Expeditionary Force appeared on the plains of South Africa, the Portuguese in the South African city finally knew that danger was coming.
They had received news before that the Tang Dynasty had reinforced a group of troops from the country and contributed to the island of Ceylon. Therefore, the Portuguese in South Africa were still worried that these Tang people might attack the Portuguese in India.
of other colonial sites.
But they never thought that Datang did not follow common sense and chose to attack the Portuguese colonial strongholds in India, West Asia and central and northern Africa. Instead, they chose to cross the Indian Ocean and attack the city of South Africa.
Since the African Expeditionary Force of the Tang Empire did not choose to follow the coastal routes of India, West Asia and Africa, but directly crossed the Indian Ocean, although the scale of the fleet was large, its whereabouts were also very secretive.
When the army came to kill them, they discovered the crisis.
At this time, they actually didn't know that this army was the army that captured Ceylon before.
Panic spread throughout the South African city in an instant!
According to common sense, today's South Africa City will not face any danger, because it is too far away from India. The Portuguese would never have thought that the Tang Dynasty would choose to attack across the Indian Ocean. Their biggest enemy would at most
They are just the Tang people in Xiyin City, and the Tang people stationed in Xiyin City only have a thousand troops. It would be fine if the Portuguese didn't attack them on weekdays. There are extra troops there to attack South Africa City!
But now, an army of nearly ten thousand people has appeared. How can this not surprise the Portuguese people?
At this time, there were not many troops stationed in the city of South Africa, only more than 3,000 people. Originally there were more than 5,000 people. However, after learning that Ceylon Island had been captured, the Portuguese, who were worried about the deterioration of the situation in India, came from South Africa.
More than 2,000 troops were deployed to reinforce the Indian direction.
But as a result, the number of defenders in South Africa City was somewhat insufficient.
Even if more than 3,000 people are supposedly guarding the city, it is unlikely that they can block the nearly 10,000 Tang expeditionary troops outside the city.
These Portuguese people had also seen or heard about the Tang Army's siege tactics. The exploding shells were almost every defender's nightmare.
At the beginning, thousands of troops were unable to defend the island of Ceylon, but now three thousand troops in the South African city can defend it?
As a result, the city of South Africa fell into panic. Some captains and sailors who got the news sailed out of South Africa city overnight, because they knew that if they continued to stay here, sooner or later they would die at the hands of the Tang Dynasty.
But these merchants could escape, but the Portuguese officials and garrison in the city could not escape.
Even though he was panicking, he still had to brace himself and prepare for defensive operations.
But so what, Dong Qiankun's troops worked hard to get to South Africa. Whether it was Dong Qiankun or the ordinary soldiers, they were all holding their breath in their hearts. This time they just took out the Portuguese to vent their anger.
We can't fight the storms deep in the ocean, but fighting the Portuguese is not the same as playing for fun.
The results of the subsequent battle do not need to be described too much. Dong Qiankun used almost all the artillery that could be used, and did not even save ammunition. He threw a large number of artillery shells at once.
Amidst the intensive explosions, the defenders of the South African city were even more vulnerable than the defenders of Coron City on the island of Ceylon. The defenders of Coron City managed to hold on for a long time, but in the end they could not withstand the fierce shelling.
The city was just broken.
In the city of South Africa, the army's artillery bombardment lasted only two days, and the Portuguese on top of the city raised the white flag and surrendered.
This gave Dong Qiankun's attack momentum a rather anticlimactic feeling. As soon as the attack started, the enemy surrendered, and he had not even used many of his methods.
The Portuguese in South Africa surrendered cleanly. Dong Qiankun led his troops to garrison in South Africa to rest and recuperate. While guarding against Portuguese counterattacks, he also sent good news to the country.
It's just that if this good news has to cross the Indian Ocean, then enter the Southeast Asia, return to Shanghai on the coast of the empire, and then send it all the way from Shanghai to Jinling City, it will probably be gone by autumn!
So even though Dong Qiankun had captured South Africa City in June, there was no news at all in the country. Now the country is still busy with the aftermath of the Battle of Fuso.
Who knows about the war in Africa thousands of miles away?