Japan had a total of 100,000 Dwarf pioneer troops in India, of which 50,000 were dispatched to Sri Lanka, leaving the remaining 50,000 Dwarfs to be mobilized by the Great Ming.
Fifty thousand Dwarf ronin samurai were no match for the regular army of the Great Ming. Any army-level or even division-level unit could have sent these fifty thousand Dwarfs to the embrace of Amaterasu.
However, placing these fifty thousand Dwarfs in the Ottoman Empire would be a completely different story.
Firstly, the Ottoman Empire no longer had a Sultan.
No matter how incompetent Mahmud II was, and no matter how difficult it was for his orders to leave Istanbul, he was still the nominal Sultan and Caliph of the Ottoman Empire, and one of the spiritual pillars of the Ottoman people.
Secondly, the Ottoman Janissaries were completely finished.
The Ottoman Janissaries also had another name: "Blade of the Sultan." While the Ottoman Janissaries were prone to rebellion every few days and even invented a "Sultan-specific punishment" of being castrated to death, they were, after all, the main force of the Ottoman regular army.
Now, with the Sultan gone and the Blade of the Sultan gone, the entire Ottoman military system, if not completely destroyed, had at least been severely crippled. Although Mustafa Pasha, loyal to Mahmud II, was doing his best to support the empire, how many troops could he mobilize?
Even if, for the sake of argument, Mustafa Pasha could mobilize all the troops in the Ottoman Empire, what good would it do? What would he use to fight against the brutal and inhumane Japanese Dwarfs? Moreover, the Great Ming's military bases near the Ottoman Empire would also launch attacks on the Ottomans, so how would Mustafa Pasha cope?
Emperor Zhu chuckled, tapped his fingers slowly on the table, and turned to Zhang Dequan, instructing him, "Mobilize some ships from Old Port and Lanfang to India and send Tojo Kojiro and his fifty thousand Dwarfs to the Ottoman Empire to serve as the main force in resolving the Ottoman issue."
Zhang Dequan immediately bowed and agreed. However, before Emperor Zhu could say anything further, Lin Yu, the commander of the Tianzi Hao fleet, hurried over from outside the cabin and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, all the Ottoman warships have been sent to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish. Not a single prisoner was taken."
The smile on Emperor Zhu's face instantly froze.
Assuming each Ottoman warship carried three hundred men, this fleet of twelve warships would consist of three thousand six hundred men.
In other words, these were three thousand six hundred excellent laborers.
And the result?
Damn it, two fleets fought at sea, with the Great Ming fleet having a crushing advantage over the Ottoman fleet, and yet not a single prisoner was taken?
Thinking of the loss of over three thousand laborers for the Great Ming, Emperor Zhu glared at Lin Yu and angrily reprimanded him, "A bunch of prodigal sons! Over three thousand laborers, and you sent them all to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish?"
Lin Yu scratched his head and chuckled, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. It's just that the soldiers were outraged."
Emperor Zhu snorted coldly but did not continue to scold Lin Yu. From the moment the Ottoman fleet fired upon the escort ships on the outer perimeter of the Tianzi Hao, Emperor Zhu had anticipated that no prisoners would survive. Now, it was merely the shattering of the last glimmer of hope in Emperor Zhu's heart.
Lin Yu continued, "Your Majesty, a lookout just reported that a large fire has broken out at the Ottoman port of Mukalla, and it seems there is unrest. Should I send someone to investigate?"
Emperor Zhu hummed and frowned, "The port of Mukalla? It would be good to send someone to investigate."
Although the original plan was to conduct exercises with the Ottoman fleet at Cape Ras el Hanout, the sea area where the Tianzi Hao fleet was stationed was near Mukalla, still a considerable distance from Cape Ras el Hanout.
After all, the Ottoman navy's strength was mediocre; it couldn't be called useless, but it was essentially worthless. If the Great Ming fleet didn't stop near Mukalla, the Ottoman navy might get lost on the sea voyage to Cape Ras el Hanout.
This meant that the ships and sailors near the port of Mukalla had likely witnessed the inexplicable naval battle clearly, and the fire at the port was likely related to this battle.
Of course, whether it was seen or not was not important. What the Ottoman people in Mukalla port were up to was also not important. What was important was that Emperor Zhu had already decided to turn the Ottoman Empire into an Ottoman Prefecture of the Great Ming, and the port of Mukalla would naturally belong to the Great Ming.
Now, with the port of Mukalla ablaze, wasn't that the overseas assets of the Great Ming being burned?
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu commanded, "Besides finding out what happened, we must also try to extinguish the fire. After all, it is our Great Ming's port. If it is burned down, we will have to spend money to rebuild it."
...
At the port of Mukalla, Wang Zixuan shouted with a ferocious expression, "Quick, quick! Kill everyone who can be killed, burn everything that can be burned! Damn it, how dare you fire upon the warships of that dog emperor? I'll make sure you sons of bitches regret it!"
Fu Bo, Wang Zixuan's butler, looked at Wang Zixuan with a pained expression and said, "Master, no matter how close His Majesty the Emperor is to you from childhood, he is still His Majesty the Emperor of our Great Ming. Can you please remove that word? Besides, we are here in the Ottoman Empire to get oil. With your actions, will our oil business still be viable?"
Wang Zixuan snorted, "So what if I curse him?"
However, no matter how tough he was verbally, Wang Zixuan was still a bit cowardly. He glanced around before puffing himself up again, "What are you all looking at! It's just a bit of oil. When the Ottoman Empire belongs to our Great Ming, won't this oil be mine to dig as I please!"
As Wang Zixuan spoke, the young men nearby also burst into laughter.
Everyone understood that Wang Zixuan didn't care about the Ottoman oil at all. It was the act of the Ottoman fleet firing upon the Great Ming's Tianzi Hao fleet that had given Wang Zixuan a chance to gain military merit again. Ever since he gained military merit in Benghazi last time, Wang Zixuan had become obsessed, constantly thinking about military merit.
As for doing business properly, how much money could one earn from doing business? Besides, no matter how much money business could earn, what was the use of it? Could it allow him to enjoy the first incense offering in the ancestral hall? Don't be foolish. The ranking rules in the ancestral hall prioritized military merit, followed by being an official who benefited the region, and then by earning a lot of money and doing good deeds in the local area. The treatment was completely different, wasn't it?
However, after the laughter, the young men around Wang Zixuan looked at the Ottoman people with increasingly strange eyes, as if the Ottoman people were no longer people but offerings in their own ancestral hall!
More importantly, no matter how much the Bengazi barbarians courted death, they were only causing trouble in the insignificant region of Bengazi. Although they could gain military merit, it wasn't much.
The weight of these Ottoman barbarians was far greater than that of the Bengazi barbarians. These damned fools dared to fire upon the Tianzi Hao fleet where the Emperor of the Great Ming was! Killing these barbarians would be an act of loyalty!
"Kill!"
"Glory to ancestors!"
"Enter the county annals!"
"Expand the territory!"
"Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!"
A group of young men, stimulated by the words "glory to ancestors" and the ancestral hall rankings, with red eyes, rushed towards the Ottoman soldiers guarding the port like mad tigers. Those who killed and those who burned performed their duties, and the entire port of Mukalla soon descended into chaos.
Coincidentally, the Ottoman officer responsible for Mukalla port happened to have close ties with the Janissaries. He had already boarded the warship that assassinated Mahmud II along with the Janissaries and was subsequently sent to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish by the Tianzi Hao fleet. As a result, there was no one at the entire port of Mukalla who could stand up and issue commands.
The result of no one issuing commands was that the Ottoman soldiers at Mukalla port acted independently. Some Ottoman soldiers wanted to extinguish the fire, while others wanted to unite and eliminate Wang Zixuan and his group. No one could convince or command anyone, and Mukalla port naturally became increasingly chaotic.
This continued until the land forces from the Tianzi Hao began to land at Mukalla port.
Then, Wang Zixuan, who had been loudly clamoring to kill all the Ottomans, performed a sudden change of demeanor.
Wang Zixuan, with a wronged expression and a pout, said to the soldiers of the land forces who surrounded him, "You're finally here! Just now, we saw the Ottoman fleet fire upon our Great Ming fleet, so we wanted to quickly protect His Majesty and kill the barbarians. But you don't know, those Ottoman barbarians were like they were going to eat people, they were so fierce!"
The commander of the land forces glared fiercely at Wang Zixuan and cursed, "You son of a bitch, why are you here in the Ottoman Empire instead of causing trouble in Bengazi? And what's with the fire just now? Did you do it?"
Suddenly being cursed, Wang Zixuan was instantly enraged and was about to retort when he heard the commander of the land forces coldly snort again, "What, you son of a bitch don't recognize me anymore? I'm Wang Long!"
Hearing the familiar accent and familiar name, Wang Zixuan's anger instantly vanished without a trace. He looked closely for a moment before clicking his tongue and saying, "You son of a bitch, you've actually worked your way up to be the commander of the land forces of the Tianzi Hao fleet? You must be a battalion-level officer by now, right? Look at your face, smeared like you're in a play. What a waste of your military uniform!"
Wang Long, of course, could hear the sourness in Wang Zixuan's words and said with feigned pride, "What do you know? The Tianzi Hao fleet has always had high-ranking personnel in lower positions. I'm now a regimental commander!"
Having said that, Wang Long looked at Wang Zixuan with a mocking expression and said, "As for you, you son of a bitch, tsk tsk, you're not as effeminate as you used to be?"
Wang Zixuan's face immediately darkened, and he snorted, "Don't you bring up what you shouldn't, you son of a bitch. If it weren't for that... if it weren't for the Emperor not allowing me to join the army, I might even be your superior now. Would you have the right to show off in front of me?"
Wang Long was unconcerned by Wang Zixuan's complaint. He chuckled and asked, "You still haven't said, why did you come here again? Weren't you heard to be in Bengazi before?"
Wang Zixuan snorted and said sarcastically, "Unlike you, you're a soldier who eats the imperial rations. I'm just someone who makes dirty money. If I don't run to a few more places, where else will I make that dirty money?"
Hearing the increasing sourness in Wang Zixuan's words, Wang Long waved his hand and chuckled, "Tsk tsk, whose vinegar jar overturned? Why is there so much sourness? Or is someone who couldn't become a soldier still unhappy?"
Wang Zixuan glared fiercely at Wang Long, then looked at the fiery chaos and shouting at Mukalla port, and snorted, "I don't have the mood to talk about those messy things with you. Anyway, this port was burned by my people, and these barbarians were killed by me and my family. You figure it out."
Wang Long was immediately choked, couldn't help but roll his eyes, and then said indignantly, "Then I don't have time to bicker with you about these messy things either. You burned our Great Ming's Mukalla port, so get ready to pay for it!"
After retorting to Wang Zixuan, Wang Long paused slightly, took a careful look at Wang Zixuan, and then said, "Since you're here, I'll tell His Majesty about your business here. After all, you haven't seen each other for many years. Aren't you going to see His Majesty?"
Hearing Wang Long's words, Wang Zixuan also became a little excited.
However, after Wang Zixuan met Emperor Zhu, the arrogance he displayed when commanding and setting fires at Mukalla port disappeared. Instead, his eyes became a little red, "Jing... Your Majesty!"
Emperor Zhu grabbed Wang Zixuan's shoulder and shook him, smiling, "Calling me Brother Jinsong still sounds more intimate!"
After speaking, Emperor Zhu pulled over the nearby Zhu Jianyong and said with a smile, "Come, meet your second uncle!"
With Emperor Zhu calling him "second uncle," Wang Zixuan's recent nervousness and anxiety disappeared completely. He looked at Emperor Zhu with dissatisfaction, "I don't cry as much as I used to! I killed dozens of Kunlun slaves in Bengazi! Just now at Mukalla port, I killed dozens more! I'm a real man, a pure one!"
Emperor Zhu chuckled and did not refute Wang Zixuan, "Yes, yes, you are pure, pure."
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Emperor Zhu suddenly felt something was wrong, "What did you just say? How many barbarians did you kill at Mukalla port?"
Wang Zixuan proudly replied, "Killed dozens! I also ordered people to set several fires! I clearly saw these sons of bitches at the port just now, they fired upon your fleet!"
Emperor Zhu's face instantly darkened, "Prodigal son! A bunch of prodigal sons! Lin Yu and those killers sank the Ottoman warships and left no prisoners, and you, you son of a bitch, killed dozens more at the port and set fires! You son of a bitch, that will be our Great Ming's port in the future, and you burned it?"
...
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