Indeed, there weren't many pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Li An had sent out a number of sub-fleets, and after a few days of hard work, they had only encountered a few robberies. Furthermore, there was one case where a merchant who had failed in his business robbed his fellow merchant. In total, they had captured twelve ships and over a hundred pirates.
These captured pirates were all detained on one of the ships involved in the incident, under the watch of fifty Tang soldiers. As for the other eleven ships, each ship was guarded by ten soldiers. With the steam-powered ships towing the ships, there was no need for people to row the ships, so there was naturally no need for too many people.
Aden City wasn't far away. Standing on the command platform, Ang Lee could already see the harbor of Aden City with his binoculars. They would arrive at Aden City in at most two hours.
"Assistant Minister Li, we have captured so many pirates for the merchants. The merchants of Aden City will definitely welcome us!"
An official of the Tang dynasty said.
Li An chuckled, and said, "The merchants are naturally elated, but the City Lord of Aden won't think the same. We have so many people and so many ships, and we'll take up a lot of space in the harbor. Furthermore, we have the power to take over the harbor, so they'll be very worried."
"If Altik doesn't know what's good for him and doesn't let us enter the harbor, then we will have to attack it by force."
The subordinate said.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "That's right. No one can refuse the Tang dynasty. If they dare to refuse, we can make them yield with a little trick, just like what we did to Western Tianzhu."
Hearing this, the subordinate nodded in agreement. He felt that Ang Lee's words made sense.
"Aden City is just ahead, and we didn't inform them in advance. This is very impolite. Immediately send someone to see the mayor and tell him that we want to visit Aden City and stay there for a long time."
Ang Lee looked at the subordinate beside him and said.
The subordinate immediately gave the order, and soon, a steam gunship sped toward Aden City. On the ship were Ang Lee's subordinates.
Aden City had been very quiet during the past few days, and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It was as if it were a very ordinary city, and there were no signs of the two armies eyeing it from outside.
Mayor Altik also patrolled the city every day to create a peaceful atmosphere. Occasionally, he would go to the top of the sightseeing tower to look at the scenery.
The steam gunships of the Tang dynasty were very fast. They were many times faster than ordinary merchant ships, so they soon arrived at Aden City's harbor and asked to enter.
"Haha! The harbor's defenses are well done! There are a dozen defense towers. "
A Great Tang captain looked at the defenses of Aden's harbor and chuckled.
In order to prevent pirate sneak attacks, most ports had defense towers. The specifications were different, but their purpose was to prevent the invasion of force. The larger defense towers could accommodate catapults and giant crossbows, while the smaller ones could only accommodate a few archers. As long as there were a certain number of defense towers, they could block the attacks of ordinary pirates and protect the safety of the port.
However, these ordinary defense towers could only be used to defend against pirates with cold weapons. For the steam gunships of the Tang dynasty, these defense towers were fixed targets and couldn't withstand a single blow. Therefore, the captain of the Tang dynasty could smile proudly. He wasn't afraid that Aden City wouldn't welcome him.
"Look, there's a big ship with smoke coming out of it."
"What a big ship! It's the first time I've seen such a big ship. "
"You guys are so ignorant. This is a steam gunship of the Tang dynasty. It's very powerful."
"Look carefully. There are many ships with smoke coming out of them. There are steam gunships of the Tang dynasty in the distance. "
"I know. The main fleet of the Tang dynasty is here. It's the main fleet of Assistant Minister Li."
"Assistant Minister Li is here. We saw Assistant Minister Li when we passed by the port of West Tianzhu last time. I didn't expect Assistant Minister Li to come to Aden City after not seeing him for a few months. "
"Everyone, come and see! It's a steam gunship of the Tang dynasty. "
There were already many people in the harbor. After seeing the steam gunship of the Tang dynasty, more people gathered. Whether it was the people in the cabin or the people in the harbor, they all gathered near the harbor to see the steam gunship of the Tang dynasty.
Although many businessmen had already seen the steam gunship of the Tang dynasty, it was not every day. Therefore, whenever they had the chance, they would come and see it again. They could also show off in front of others who hadn't seen it before. They could even boast that they had seen the steam gunship of the Tang dynasty many times. They could even boast that they had boarded a steam gunship of the Tang dynasty, making the people around them envious.
The sudden appearance of a steam gunship of the Tang dynasty outside the harbor, and the huge fleet of the Tang dynasty further away, was no small matter. The soldiers in charge of guarding the harbor immediately reported the news.
"What? The Tang Dynasty fleet has arrived in Aden City?"
City Lord Altik, who had just returned from the sightseeing tower, asked in surprise.
"Yes, City Lord. The Tang Dynasty fleet is very powerful. They are all steam gunships with smoke coming out of them. What are they doing in Aden City?"
His subordinate asked.
Naturally, Artik had heard of the Tang Empire's steam ships. He had obtained this knowledge from some merchants, but he had never seen a steam ship with his own eyes, so he could not understand what a smoking ship looked like.
As for why the steam gunships of the Tang dynasty would appear in Aden City, Altik seemed to have some idea. Malacca, Anshi, and Anzhu were all big projects of Ang Lee, so he had naturally heard of them. Now that Ang Lee's fleet had arrived in Aden City, Altik was very nervous. He felt that Ang Lee wanted to take over the territory of Aden City.
"I heard that the Tang Dynasty fleet recently took over Anzhu City in the east. I didn't expect them to come to Aden City now. What are they doing? Are they going to take over Aden City?"
Altik was quite depressed.
There were too many people who wanted to take over Aden City. Osman and Ziyad's troops were still there. Now, the Tang dynasty's troops were also here, and they came from the sea. Aden City was surrounded on three sides, and the situation was quite dangerous.
"City Lord, our small Aden City has attracted three forces. Isn't it just a port? Why is it attracting so much attention?"
His subordinate said half-jokingly.
"Have you seen a map of the Tang Dynasty?"
Altik asked.
Several of his subordinates shook their heads. How could they have seen a map of the Tang dynasty?
Altik took out a map and said, "I have a copy here. I bought it from a businessman of the Tang dynasty. Look at this map. The color marked here is our Aden City. The color next to it is Khorasan. On the right is the Tang dynasty. On the west is Egypt. This is Spain, France, and here."
"Oh my god, the world is so big. It's incredible."
Many of his subordinates were shocked and exclaimed at the vastness of the world.
"Look, these are the places that the Tang Dynasty fleet took over after they went south. They are all important transportation routes, and so is our Aden City. Therefore, the Tang dynasty wants to take over Aden City."
Altik pointed at the map and analyzed.
"City Lord, if the Tang dynasty wants to take over Aden City, what should we do? If we refuse to let the Tang Dynasty fleet enter the port, they may launch an attack. "
Several of his subordinates panicked and didn't know what to do.
City Lord Altik thought for a moment and said, "Where are the steamships of the Tang dynasty?"
"The nearest one is about to arrive at the port. The remaining 100 or so are still dozens of miles away. However, they should be able to catch up soon."
His subordinate answered truthfully.
Altik thought for a moment and said, "Prepare the horses immediately. Let's go to the port and see with our own eyes."
Because he had never seen a steamship before, Altik wanted to go to the port and see if the steamships of the Tang dynasty that the businessmen bragged about could really shock him.
When Altik arrived at the port, many people had already gathered there to watch the show. It was obvious how many people were bored.
"City Lord, that big ship with black smoke is the steamship of the Tang dynasty."
His subordinate pointed at the steamship of the Tang dynasty that was very close to the port and said.
It was Altik's first time seeing a steamship of the Tang dynasty. He was deeply shocked at first sight. He had never seen a ship bigger than the steamship of the Tang dynasty in his life. It was really shocking.
Moreover, the black smoke coming out of the ship was very domineering. Occasionally, it would make a deafening roar, which added to the momentum of the steamship.
"This is the steamship of the Tang dynasty. It's really huge. What the businessmen said was true. It's really impressive."
Altik was completely shocked. He was so scared that he didn't know what to say. He knew that he didn't have the strength to fight against such a huge fleet.
"City Lord, the armed ships of the Tang dynasty in front request to enter the port."
A soldier said.
"City Lord, the Tang Dynasty fleet captured more than 100 pirates along the way. Should we let them enter the port?"
The subordinate asked.
Altik looked into the distance and saw a large number of steamships of the Tang dynasty in the distance. He was very scared. How could he fight against such a huge fleet of the Tang dynasty? However, he was very unwilling to give up Aden and hand it over to the Tang dynasty. No one was willing to give up what they had.
"Tell the steamship of the Tang dynasty that this is a commercial port. Armed ships are not suitable to enter the port. Tell them to wait outside the port."
Altik said firmly, which made the people around him look at him with new eyes.
"What? Altik won't let us enter the port? How dare he?"
The captain of the Tang dynasty was quite angry. He asked, "Didn't you tell them that the Tang dynasty captured more than 100 pirates?"
"I told them, but the City Lord still won't let us enter the port."
The soldier said.
The captain of the Tang dynasty said angrily, "Since they don't want to give us face, they can't blame us. Do you see the biggest defense towers on the left and right sides? Fire a few rounds and destroy the two biggest defense towers. "
"Yes."
The soldiers immediately began to prepare the ammunition and aimed at the biggest defense towers on the left and right sides of the port.
Boom, boom, boom …
After a round of fire, the two biggest defense towers on the left and right sides were smoking. The soldiers on them saw that the situation was not good and immediately fled. They wouldn't be stupid enough to wait for death. They all saw clearly that the location of the steamships of the Tang dynasty was beyond the range of the giant crossbows and catapults. They couldn't fight back at all and could only be hit passively. In such a situation, if they didn't escape, would they wait for death?
After the first round of bombardment, the second round of more accurate bombardment began and blew up the two biggest defense towers in an instant.
The onlookers were all shocked and ran away timidly. Many Tang dynasty businessmen didn't understand what was going on. Some retreated to see the situation, and some simply went back. Only the boldest people stayed in the port, stunned by the development of the situation. Perhaps they were confident that the Tang dynasty's army would not kill them!
The most surprised people were, of course, the City Lord Altik and his men. They didn't expect that the gunships of the Tang dynasty would directly fire at the defense towers after being refused entry to the port. Moreover, the two strongest defense towers in the port were blown up in no time. If they continued to fire, all the defense facilities in the port would be razed to the ground.
The large defense towers were made of stones and were very sturdy and durable. Ordinary cold weapons couldn't hurt such powerful defense towers at all. Therefore, Altik was very confident in these defense towers. He believed that with the protection of these defense towers, no force could break into the port. However, he didn't expect that a few rounds of bombardment from the steamships of the Tang dynasty would completely destroy the large defense towers with amazing defense. This attack power was so terrifying that Altik couldn't believe it.
"My Lord, the two largest defense towers have been destroyed and six soldiers were injured."
"My Lord, the steamships of the Tang dynasty are too powerful. We can't fight against them at all! Destroying the defense towers was just a warning. If we don't agree to their request, they will probably attack the port. "
"Yes! My Lord, just one steamship is so powerful. If all the steamships behind it come up, the power of the port won't be able to stop them at all. "
"My God! This power is too terrifying. If our City of Aden had such powerful weapons, it wouldn't be a problem for us to wipe out the Khorasan! "
"We can wipe out the Khorasan. The key is what we should do now. That's the problem at hand."
"My Lord, it seems that we can only agree to the request of the Tang dynasty because we can't beat them at all."
Several of his subordinates were talking at once.
Altik, the City Lord of Aden, shrugged helplessly and ordered, "Let the steamships of the Tang dynasty enter the port and agree to the request of the Tang dynasty."
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