Nine hundred and forty-seven years after the Great Song Dynasty, in Sarajevo, a young Serbian student named Princip assassinated Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in full view.

No one thought that that the sound of that gunshot would drag the whole world into a raging storm; Unexpectedly, it was this ordinary little man who pulled the trigger of the First World War.

Nine hundred and forty-seven years later, in the middle of the 11th century, hundreds of warships of the Great Song Expeditionary Force descended on Suez, bringing not only shock and curiosity, but also fear to the Egyptians.

......

Tang Yi didn't realize that the already fragile Mediterranean order would become more and more delicate because of his arrival; I didn't realize what kind of unknown his arrival would take the world.

Seeing that Suez, which was completely different from later generations, was not so prosperous under the light of the rising sun, the old men from the Celestial Empire couldn't help but sigh:

"Broken place!"

......

Well, Suez in front of me is like a slightly better small fishing village, and a small county town in the Great Song Dynasty is much more prosperous than this.

Now everyone seriously doubts whether the Mediterranean "pearls" described by Tang Yi are so tall.

What is Damascus, known as "paradise on earth", Jerusalem, the holy city of the three religions, Rome in the heart of Europe, Venice in the commercial capital....

Everyone really wants to see with their own eyes whether these good places that "blow to the sky" are so good, and it is worth running tens of thousands of miles.

"Da Lang, you have been talking about it for so long, just to come here?"

"Uh..." Tang Yi was a little embarrassed.

For the Celestial Empire lords whose eyes are above the top...... It's a bit shabby indeed.

"This ......"

Tang Yi hesitated for a while, and burst out for a long time:

"Place is not in size, but in importance."

This time, even Yang Wenguang rolled his eyes, believing in your evil!

......

"It's really important!" Tang Yi had an expression of "you believe me".

Why don't you understand?

......

The reason why Suez is important is not how brilliant the civilization it has created, nor how large the town it has gathered, but because of its important geographical location, it is famous all over the world.

It is the tip of the dagger of the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal, after which it was named...... The connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, which allows the route between Europe and Asia to no longer bypass the entire African continent, greatly reduces the voyage distance, and is also an important reason why Suez is remembered.

It is not difficult to see that it is not for nothing that the Suez Canal, which runs less than 200 kilometers from north to south, has become one of the most important waterways in the world.

Of course, for the 11th century, in which Tang Yi is now living, this important waterway has not yet been excavated. Therefore, if you want to get from Asia to Europe, you can only circumnavigate around the African continent for 20,000 miles, and even if the Great Song fleet does not stop, it will take an extra four to six months to reach the Mediterranean.

Do you think that Tang Yi is going to give up the fleet and land in Suez, and then run thousands of miles to fight Rome?

Think too much!

Tang Yi didn't think about landing at all, and the reason why he didn't even let Vera prepare supplies for Africa in advance was because he didn't think about detouring Africa at all. He wanted to drive the Great Song fleet into the Mediterranean Sea with dignity, and he would go to Suez.

Compared with the world-famous Suez Canal, few people may know that in addition to the Suez Canal, which was built by the French to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea in a north-south direction, there is actually an east-west Suez Canal.

It does not communicate between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, but between the Red Sea and the Nile, and from the Nile into the Mediterranean.

This ancient river channel was dug by the Pharaoh Sinuseltus III of the Egyptian Dynasty as early as the 13th century BC, that is, more than 2,300 years ago in the Great Song Dynasty, but it was abandoned several times for various reasons.

It was not until the Khabath dynasty of the Arab Empire that Caliph al-Mansur completely abandoned this ancient river channel, so that it was lost in the long river of history.

The Suez Canal built by the French in later generations also made use of part of this ancient river, and the later Tang Yi had seen the Suez Canal when he traveled to Egypt, even after more than a thousand years of wind and frost, the dry riverbed ancient road is still faintly visible.

What's more, it is now the Great Song Dynasty, and this ancient road has only been abandoned for two or three hundred years?

......

Before Tang Yi set off, he had an extremely crazy idea:

He had in his hands 60,000 young and strong laborers, and ......

And a hundred boats of explosives.

That's right!

Shah, and the Romans thought that in addition to more than 100 ships of Song soldiers, Tang Yi's other more than 100 small boats were filled with treasures, but in fact, ......

It's full of explosives!

This is the accumulation of all the things on the Wild Boar Island after Tang Yi began to ponder the creation of explosives for so long.

Even Tang Yi was afraid that it would not be enough, and a month before departure, he released the solid explosives with nitrate-acid-glycerine-oil as the main ingredient, produced them in large quantities, and brought them all out.

And only this once, no more manufacturing.

......

He still didn't believe it, building blocks (pyramids) Egypt is powerful, and canals can be built to play with waterways......

The Han people are the real connoisseurs.

Instead of detouring around Africa for more than half a year and going back for more than half a year when you come back, Lao Tzu might as well spend more time, have the luxury of blowing up the Suez Ancient Road!

......

——————————

As soon as he got off the boat, Tang Yi immediately sent Vera to deliver gifts to the local fishermen in Suez.

It's all some tattered porcelain, Central Plains gadgets and the like, to reassure the people of Suez not to be afraid, they are just passing, not invading.

This works perfectly, and sometimes it's much easier to do a little favor than to use violence.

In just a few days, the fishermen and farmers of Suez not only did not panic and hostile, but had a good impression of these oriental guests who came from afar.

Compared with those European robbers and Seljuk barbarians, the Song people were obviously much more polite and civilized.

Not only did they not reject the arrival of the Song Emperor, but they took the initiative to sell the surplus grain and seafood harvest to the Song people.

Some Arab merchants who came from Damascus gave up their original idea of going deep into East Africa and happily accepted huge orders from the Song people to buy grain for the Great Song Dynasty.

After the Great Song Expeditionary Force took root in Suez, Tang Yi was not idle, and prepared for a long trip non-stop.

That's right, he was going to leave the Great Song fleet and only take a few entourages on a long journey.

The destination is Cairo, the royal city of Egypt.

......

This is also something that can't be helped, no matter how strong the Yazhou Army is, it can't see one to fight another.

What's more, Tang Yi not only wants to borrow the Tao on other people's land, but also wants to build a river on other people's land, even if the green clothes and big food (that is, the Fatimid Dynasty) who now rule Egypt are weak, they can't tolerate this kind of thing, right?

Therefore, Tang Yi planned to go in person.

It's the same as the routine in Suez, or the same as the strategy with Da Liao, give you some money, give you something, and rent the place to my head office, right?

Moreover, Tang Yi used the excuse to fight Rome, and he has a natural sense of closeness in the Arab world. The chance of success should be very high when it comes to renting land.

Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if the conversation collapses, it's not too late to use it again.

"No way!"

Regarding Tang Yi's idea of going to Cairo alone, Yang Wenguang and others resolutely disagreed.

"Thousands of miles away from home, unfamiliar with life, what if something happens!?"

In this regard, Tang Yi had to smile bitterly.

"It's okay, with Vera leading, nothing can happen."

This trip did have an element of adventure, but with Tang Yi's understanding of the Fatimid Dynasty during this period, as well as through Vera's description, he didn't venture anywhere.

At this time, the Fatimid Dynasty, which was also known as the green clothes and food in the Song Dynasty, was no longer what it used to be, and its national strength was declining.

Not only were they hostile to Europe on the other side of the Mediterranean, but they were even defeated in the war with the Seljuks for the Holy City because of their doctrinal differences.

For the Great Song Dynasty, a potential ally who wanted to go on an expedition to Rome and had a bad relationship with the Seljuks, the Egyptians knew that it was much better to win over than to hostile, right?

Besides, even if Egypt wants to be the enemy of the Great Song Dynasty, it has to weigh whether the 60,000 elite soldiers and 100 gunboats on the shore of Suez can be dealt with now.

......

It's a pity that Tang Yi is a little wishful thinking.

The Fatimids of Egypt, though exhausted by the war against the Seljuks, and though they also hated Rome across the sea, they did not seem to have much affection for the uninvited Great Song expeditionary force.

Moreover, Egypt not only dared to be an enemy of the Great Song Dynasty, but also had enough strength......

Enemy of the Great Song Dynasty!

......

————————

Just the day before Tang Yi ignored the dissuasion and prepared to go to Cairo.

Something is wrong!

A battalion of Nongjisi's battalion, on routine patrol, encountered a cavalry squad from Fatima less than twenty miles from Suez, and a clash broke out.

What surprised everyone even more was that Nong Jisi's five hundred elite wolf soldiers faced a hundred-man cavalry squad......

Five times the enemy, it was a draw!!

"How is that possible?" Tang Yi was puzzled.

You know, the wolf soldiers are not fighting against the cavalry on foot this time, if so, they will be said to have been flying a kite.

But they were on horseback!

The entire Yazhou army is fighting on foot, except for Nong Jisi, the three thousand wolf soldiers, who are good at riding, and can be ridden on foot.

In Tang Yi's opinion, their riding tactics even have the strength to fight against the Khitan knights in the north, how can they be five times the enemy and still draw?

Why are the Egyptians so good? Even the patrol and mounted sentry are comparable to the elite of Yazhou?

There is something strange about it, and it is necessary to find out.

Urgently ordered Nong Jisi to return to the battlefield in person, if he can't catch it alive, he will also get the corpse back to take a look!!

Half a day later, Nong Jisi really brought back an enemy corpse.

Tang Yi took a look and was shocked!

This is definitely not a sentry.

I saw that although the enemy's corpse equipment was not as exaggerated as the black cavalry battalion, it was also a chain heavy armor and a steel helmet.

Nong Jisi also brought back his individual weapons, which were also full of spears, Damascus scimitars, and shields, all of which were of the highest quality. There is also a longbow, which is one size larger than the bow and arrow of the Great Song Dynasty, which is difficult for ordinary soldiers to pull away, and cannot be used by non-strong soldiers.

This is obviously a heavy horse, how can it be a light riding sentry?

However, it was clearly unusual to encounter a small force of heavy cavalry less than twenty miles from Suez.

......

At this time, Cao Jue and the others were also frowning.

Removing Cao Laoer's two cannons, this can be regarded as the first battle after the Yazhou Army's expedition of thousands of miles.

However, for the first time, the sword was revealed...... And it is not a good sign that he fought more and fought less, but did not win.

Looking at the corpses on the ground, everyone's hearts were stained with gloom.

It seems that you can't despise the heroes of the world, and this broken place is not without ruthless characters!

......

"Huh?"

Tang Yi, who hadn't spoken for a long time, was suspicious, just now he only paid attention to the equipment but didn't look at people much, but inadvertently let him see some clues.

The corpse was clearly not Arab, let alone North African, and looked like ......

Like the white people of Dongzhou.

Moreover, the abrupt leather collar around his neck and his body covered by steel armor...... How can it be so out of place.

Frowning, "Go and call Vera and see if he can see if he can see any clues." ”

Cao felt the order and immediately sent someone to call Vera.

After a while, Vera answered the call.

As soon as he entered the tent, he exclaimed, "Mamluk!? ”

"How did the Mamluk Janissaries end up here!?"

......

"Mamluk!?" Tang Yi recounted in a daze.

"You mean, this is the Mamluk cavalry!?"

Depend on!!

I scolded in my heart, how could there be a Mamluk in this era!?

......

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