"Meng Qi, are you still used to sitting on this sea boat?"

Ma Chao took the wine handed over by Lu Ren and said with a smile: "It's okay!" At first, I was not used to sitting, but after sitting a few more times, I felt much better. ”

Lu Ren also filled himself with wine, and then asked, "What about the five thousand elite children you brought?" As far as I know, most of them are the sons of Xiliangqiang, and they are all strong on horseback, but when they get to this ship......

Ma Chao waved his hand again and again: "Please rest assured that Lu Nanhai is." In fact, since they came down to Central Asia, they will be more familiar with the nature of the ship if they have the opportunity, so it is not a big problem for them to take a sea boat now, at least they will not get seasick and vomit. Ay? Why did Lu Nanhai ask these questions? ”

Lu Ren said: "Because next, I need you to board the ship again immediately." And this time it's a bit far, so I'll have to see if you can handle it. ”

Ma Chao was stunned and asked, "Are you in a hurry?" ”

Lu Ren said: "It's not very urgent, but it's better to go over early." In terms of sea distance, it is about the same as the sea distance from Yangon to Ceylon, except that from Yangon it is along the coast, but this time it is a direct crossing of the ocean. ”

Ma Chao hesitated slightly, and Lu Ren asked someone to take the map, and after spreading it out, he pointed out the route to Ma Chao. And Ma Chao didn't look at it, but when he saw the route pointed out by Lu Ren clearly, he gasped at that time, and his scalp was a little numb. This is because the route indicated by Lu Ren is from Ceylon, first to Mumbai, and then all the way west and a little further north to Sur, southeast of Muscat.

As Lu Ren just said, a direct flight from Mumbai to Sur is almost a direct crossing of the western Indian Ocean. In other words, during these thousands of miles of sea, Ma Chao and his cavalry all had to stay on the ship. And although Ma Chao's gang is somewhat accustomed to boating, it is nothing to take a boat along the coastline, but suddenly they are asked to cross such an ocean like this......

Lu Ren saw Ma Chao's embarrassment, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will transfer you to the best big ship at present, and after starting from Mumbai, if the journey goes smoothly, you can reach the destination in about ten days." So Meng Qi, what you have to do now is to talk to your children and let them rest well in these few days. ”

Ma Chao pondered for a moment and asked, "Is it only me who rides five thousand?" ”

Lu Ren shook his head: "Of course not, Gan Xingba will lead my 8,000 foot soldiers to accompany you." When you get to the place, I hope you can obey Gan Xingba's instructions. ”

Hearing that Lu Ren still had 8,000 infantry to fight, and it was Gan Ning who led the troops, Ma Chao was much more relieved. At this time, Lu Ren gave Ma Chao a general explanation of the current arrangement, which was actually nothing more than an attack on Muscat in the northwest direction by land after Sur landed and made corresponding rests. Muscat is an important port at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, and as long as it can be taken down, it can give Lu Ren's follow-up troops a favorable bridgehead.

After Ma Chao listened to Lu Ren's explanation, he had no objections in his heart.

Half a month later, the vanguard composed of Gan Ning and Ma Chao completed the assembly in Mumbai and headed west to Suor. Since Lu Ren skipped Kalihet when he did these things, the Sassanid family members here in Kalihet did not know about it. is still the same sentence, Lu Ren and the Sassanid family actually have their own ghosts, so Lu Ren has to catch some prerequisites.

Such a military operation is not even known to Silkalilian, who lies beside Lu Ren every day, and the Sassanid family naturally has no way of knowing. As for the rest, will it be known...... God knows. However, Gan Ning's side did as much as possible to keep the secrecy when sailing, and the ships on the side of rest could not approach Bombay at all, and I believe that there would be no problems.

Without further ado, more than ten days later, Gan Ning and Ma Chao's men and horses suddenly appeared off the coast of Suer, and they landed smoothly almost without much effort. However, it should be explained here that Gan Ning and Ma Chao were able to land so smoothly, not because Hassan did not arrange people on the front line of Sur, but because the forces of the eastern provinces of Rome intervened in the war.

As mentioned earlier, Rome and the rest of the country were originally a pair of old enemies, and the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, whose main circle of influence was on the Egyptian side, basically included the northern region of the Red Sea.

According to the original history, there was also an Arab region between the eastern provinces of Rome and the Sabbath, which was then called the Arabian wilderness. With such a buffer zone, the sea forces of the two sides would not have been able to fight together. However, due to the emergence of Lu Ren's power and the huge profits brought by trade with the eastern provinces of Rome, the eastern provinces of Rome developed their circle of influence a little more, and took the entire southern shore of the Red Sea into the palm of their hands. In order to consolidate and ensure their interests, an outpost was set up at the junction of the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea in the western Indian Ocean, which was later the Gulf of Aden and Somalia. Later, the naval battles between the eastern Roman provinces and the rest of the country were basically fought in this area.

However, due to the help of Wan'er on the rest side of the "golden finger", the eastern provinces of Rome suffered a lot of losses in the sea competition with the rest navy in the early days. Later, it was not until Lu Ren came to Central Asia, opened the shipping route with the eastern provinces of Rome, and gave a lot of help to the eastern provinces of Rome through commerce and trade, that the eastern provinces of Rome breathed a sigh of relief and used the weapons and equipment sold by Lu Ren to defend the Gulf of Aden. Later, Lu Lan went to Rome, taking the route from the Gulf of Aden to the Gusuez Canal, and then to the Mediterranean Sea through the Gusuez Canal.

In fact, until this time, there was an Arabian wilderness between the eastern provinces of Rome and the rest. At that time, the Arab power had not yet become strong, and the so-called Arab wilderness was really a "wilderness" at that time, with little occupation value. The eastern provinces of Rome were only to further strengthen the garrison of the Gulf of Aden, and several small military stations were set up on the northern shore of the Gulf of Aden. It's just that in this way, it is indispensable to have some dealings with the Arab forces at that time.

Speaking of which, Rome is also a country that is very good at using money to fight, and in history it has often used to build some entertainment facilities for the local aristocracy in exchange for the support of the other party. Anyway, to put it simply, it is to buy off some of the Arab powers, and reach an alliance agreement with them.

The original intention of the eastern provinces of Rome was to consolidate the garrison on the northern shore of the Gulf of Aden in this way, but for Lu Ren it was a matter that could be exploited. Therefore, before Gan Ning and Ma Fei set sail, Lu Ren had already sent people to the eastern provinces of Rome and the Arab powers, expressing the hope that they could get the two forces to join the war.

The Roman side originally had an alliance agreement with Lu Ren, and the eastern provinces of Rome were the circle that benefited the most from the trade exchanges with Lu Ren in the entire Roman Empire.

Then through the thread of the eastern provinces of Rome, it was naturally not difficult for Lu Ren to get in touch with the Arab forces at that time. At that time, the Arab forces were in a period of development, and when dealing with the eastern provinces of Rome, they had long known that trading with Lu Ren could get very great benefits, so they also hoped to take this opportunity to reach an agreement with Lu Ren, not to mention that the Arab forces did not have much good impression of rest, so they quickly agreed to Lu Ren's request.

All in all, by the time Ganning and Ma Chao's fleet arrived in Sur, the navies of the eastern Roman provinces were already waiting on the sea, and on land the Arab powers were cooperating. The flanking attack of the three forces quickly led to the defeat of Hassanke's small number of troops on the front line of Sur, and the remaining remnants of the army retreated in the direction of Cascade in panic.

Lu Ren's intention of arranging Ma Chao to participate in the war was reflected at this time. Ma Chao led 5,000 elite cavalry, and after landing in Sur and the enemy army was defeated, he did not even make any rest, and immediately pursued the defeated enemy army. The fierce spirit of the Xiliang man made it even possible to see that the Arab soldiers who had always regarded themselves as warriors were also secretly speechless.

Ma Chao took the land route, while Gan Ning attacked from the water, along the coast, to Cascade. As for the Sur that had just been defeated, they threw it to the Arab forces according to Lu Ren's wishes...... Lu Ren doesn't have the energy to digest these areas now, so why bother to contradict the local snake for such a place? And this is also one of the agreements reached between Lu Ren and the Arab forces participating in the war, that is, after these places are defeated, they will be returned to the Arab forces. To put it mildly, this is also a benefit that must be given to the Arab forces, and if there is no benefit, you still expect others to work and contribute?

But from a long-term perspective, Lu Ren has no spare energy to digest this land, and it is actually beneficial to throw the Sur area to the Arab forces. First of all, the Arab forces want to reach a trade agreement with Lu Ren, and after taking down Sur, they will hand it over to the Arab forces to govern, and they will naturally build this place into a port for trade with Lu Ren. At this time, considering the military significance, it is actually equivalent to pulling the Arab forces into the war circle, and at the same time, with the geographical location of Sur, it will naturally form a situation of resabling peace. It is said that the strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, but the head snake can often be bought, Lu Ren has been mixed for so many years, and he has long understood this.

Without going into further ado, let's just say that Gan Ning and Ma Chao, plus the cavalry sent by the Arab forces to participate in the battle, pursued the rout arranged by Hassan Kein all the way to Sur, and soon pursued it to Cascade. Gan Ning played a small trick here, that is, he did not chase too closely when he was pursuing, and when the rout army began to enter Cascade, when the situation was a little chaotic, he launched an attack on Cascade at the same time as Ma Chao.

This kind of art of war is very common in the military history of China, and it is not new to the rest at that time, the key is only whether the people who use the soldiers can grasp the opportunity. Gan Ning was one of the good generals at that time, and the timing of this attack was well grasped, and Cascade was almost attacked when he was in a situation where he contained the rout and had no time to prepare for it. Ganning's naval warships were about to be bombarded in a chaotic manner, and Cascade was thrown into confusion at that time.

At this time, Ma Chao and the cavalry of the Arab forces arrived in time, and directly rushed through the city gate and entered Cascat, which also fell into a melee.

But it's a pity that Hassan didn't have the ability to arrange a guard in Cascade, and he had a very good ability to escape, and as soon as he saw that the situation was wrong, he immediately retreated to the Strait of Hormuz with his descendants. Because Gan Ning was busy attacking the city, he didn't have time to intercept and pursue the other party, which made Gan Ning regret it afterwards.

I called Lu Ren to report to him, and Lu Ren's reply was that he ran away. Because Lu Ren understands that Gan Ning and Ma Chao have taken Sur and Cascade so smoothly, and they have already completed the task excellently. With the existing forces of Gan Ning and Ma Chao, it is very reluctant to attack the solid fortifications in the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore, Lu Ren instructed Gan Ning and Ma Chao to gain a firm foothold in Cascade and wait for Lu Ren's follow-up troops here to follow.

In addition, Lu Ren repeatedly told Gan Ning and Ma Chao that they must pay attention to establishing good relations with the Arab forces. If they want some money, food, or property, if the amount is not large, they just give it to them...... Historically, the Arab forces made a lot of noise later, and Lu Ren didn't want to have any accidents when he was about to have a decisive battle with Anxi. Money, earned back is used to spend, as long as it is spent in the right place. But it's a pity that Hassan didn't have the ability to arrange a guard in Cascade, and he had a very good ability to escape, and as soon as he saw that the situation was wrong, he immediately retreated to the Strait of Hormuz with his descendants. Because Gan Ning was busy attacking the city, he didn't have time to intercept and pursue the other party, which made Gan Ning regret it afterwards.

I called Lu Ren to report to him, and Lu Ren's reply was that he ran away. Because Lu Ren understands that Gan Ning and Ma Chao have taken Sur and Cascade so smoothly, and they have already completed the task excellently. With the existing forces of Gan Ning and Ma Chao, it is very reluctant to attack the solid fortifications in the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore, Lu Ren instructed Gan Ning and Ma Chao to gain a firm foothold in Cascade and wait for Lu Ren's follow-up troops here to follow.

In addition, Lu Ren repeatedly told Gan Ning and Ma Chao that they must pay attention to establishing good relations with the Arab forces. If they want some money, food, or property, if the amount is not large, they just give it to them...... Historically, the Arab forces made a lot of noise later, and Lu Ren didn't want to have any accidents when he was about to have a decisive battle with Anxi. Money, earned back is used to spend, as long as it is spent in the right place.