Max is really sure of this. Don't look at the warships of the Ming Dynasty, which look similar to theirs, but there are still differences, not to mention that the Ming army cannot compare with them in terms of skillful operation of the personnel.
In fact, in the previous battle to seize the Strait of Hormuz, it has been proved that the British warships are still better than the Portuguese in terms of speed and flexibility. Therefore, it goes without saying that British warships compare with Ming army warships.
At this time, Darashiko was still a little unhappy after hearing what Max said. However, at this time, the guard general spoke and agreed with Max's suggestion. If the siege was not a countermeasure, the only option would be to land in Mumbai on a large scale.
Dara Xiko may not care about other people's opinions, but he must pay attention to the words of the generals of the Royal Forest Army. So, he ordered to start building rafts and the like on a large scale in preparation for landing operations.
In addition, he also asked the local governor to mobilize more soldiers from places with water access. Otherwise, if they were just landlubbers, half of them would have been lost before they even got ashore.
In this way, the war in Mumbai temporarily fell into calm as the Mughal Empire's army prepared. But everyone knows that this is just the calm before the storm.
There is no wood to build a raft on the coast of Mumbai, and it has to be hauled from dozens of miles away. Moreover, people in the Mughal Empire couldn't work quickly, even if there were officers watching, they would still take their time. Add in rainy days and so on, and the speed of building a raft will be even slower.
Half a month has passed, but the number of rafts built still has not reached a satisfactory level. Under Max's suggestion, it needs to continue to be built, so as not to fail due to insufficient troops being transported.
Finally, after waiting for more than half a month, about a hundred rafts were built. Each raft can transport about twenty people, which means that about two thousand troops can be delivered at a time.
Max feels that it should be almost done. After all, there are seven islands in Mumbai, and each island is estimated to have only a few hundred Ming troops. Unless they don't want warships and use the people on the warships as foot soldiers on land.
So, on this morning, the Mughal Empire and the British coalition began to attack Bombay again.
However, God just came out to cause trouble. It was sunny and sunny a while ago, and there was no wind. Suddenly, there were dark clouds and violent storms. This caused the raft infantry who had just attacked halfway to drop at least half of their dumplings into the sea.
Even before the war started, more than half of them were already lost!
This situation made Darashiko so angry that he kept scolding her! However, in the face of the power of nature, even if the British warships had to stay ashore for shelter, no matter how angry they were, it would be useless.
After the rain cleared up, the raft also suffered a lot of losses. We can only continue to make preparations.
At this time, a horse suddenly arrived and reported to Dara Shikoh, saying that the third prince Aurangzeb had returned good news about a victory and so on. This news stimulated him even more, and he quickly asked about the reaction in Delhi. .
The confidant who came to report the news told him that Shah Jahan had no special reaction. After hearing the good news, he just said hello casually, but he seemed a little dissatisfied with the third prince's request to send reinforcements and refused. In addition, I also asked about the battle situation on Dalashiko's side.
The officials who supported him answered for him, explaining that the Ming army was huddled on the island and the British were not strong enough, so it was difficult to fight and they were still making preparations. If they could destroy the Ming army, there would be no problem.
After Shah Jahan heard this, he said nothing and continued to worry about the ending of the Taj Mahal.
When Darashiko heard this, he relaxed a little, knowing that his father Khan did not like Aurangzeb, and he was not very happy even if he won the battle. This was a good thing! However, after all, Aurangzeb won the battle, which also put a lot of pressure on him. If it drags on here and wears out his father's patience, it is likely that his impression will also become bad. This is He absolutely cannot allow it.
Therefore, Darashiko began to urge his men to do things again, and clearly told Max that the next offensive must take over Mumbai. The British must not only cover the raft landing, but also send people to the island to participate in the battle. Otherwise, all promises will be invalid!
He is not a fool. In the process of dealing with the British, he has already felt the British's urgency to open trade in the Mughal Empire. Anyway, the matter is already halfway through at this time. Using this as a threat, he is not afraid that the British will give up halfway!
Max was indeed very angry after hearing this, but as Dara Shiko expected, he had no reason to refuse. He could only agree to send troops to land in Bombay together.
However, what they never expected was that just as they were preparing to launch another general attack on Mumbai three days later, a dozen Portuguese warships suddenly arrived.
These warships came from Goa to deliver supplies to the Ming army in Bombay. This is an agreement between the two sides as allies. And because Li Dingguo had sent someone to report the news before, he did not just send three transport ships as before, but warships came.
At this situation, both the British and Dara Xiko and others were surprised. But they had nothing to fear, Max immediately sent a warship to intercept.
However, about fifty warships, which had been silent on the Ming army's side, moved out to respond. The second war in Mumbai, to everyone's surprise, started with a naval battle.
However, this naval battle was not aimed at a decisive battle.
On the British side, they do not have many warships deployed on the east side of Mumbai. Even if they come from other directions, there are only more than 20 warships.
However, the Ming army did not need to go around the island and sailed directly. There were about fifty warships, plus Portuguese warships. Relying on the numerical advantage of the fleet, under a round of artillery, the British warships did not dare to approach, so they responded. The Portuguese fleet entered the islands of Bombay and docked at the port.
This war ended with only a few shots fired by both sides.
At the Mumbai pier, Li Dingguo came to greet him personally. The Portuguese who led this fleet over was Phillips, who was known to both parties. He asked with a smile: "How is it? Is this war easy to fight?"
"Nearly two months have passed since the soldiers came to cover up the water and the earth. Our ammunition and medicine supplies have not been consumed much!" After hearing this, Li Dingguo just replied with a faint smile.
When he was on the battleship just now, Phillips certainly took stock of the situation in Bombay and found that all seven islands were firmly in the hands of the Ming army. Especially after docking, he found that the ordinary Ming army soldiers who came to take over showed no sign of panic at all. He knew that the battle situation here would not be bad.
Therefore, after listening to Li Dingguo's answer, he smiled and told Li Dingguo: "Marshal Li, I have some good news for you. Governor Dongwu has led the fleet to rest in Goa. It is estimated that he will be able to arrive in a few days. Come."
The straight-line distance from Ceylon to Mumbai is more than a thousand kilometers, and Goa is almost in the middle. Since they were coming to fight, Yan Yingyuan naturally could not lead the army to come all the way, but would take a rest in the middle.
Hearing this, Li Dingguo grinned and said, "Very good! I wonder what the Governor has to say?"
Upon hearing this, Phillips seemed to have just remembered, patted his head and said with a smile: "Look, I'm just enjoying myself. If you don't tell me about this memory, I would have forgotten it!"
After finishing speaking, he took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Li Dingguo with both hands.
Li Dingguo immediately took it, checked the lacquer seal, and then opened it and looked at it.
Phillips looked at him and found that Li Dingguo had a sincere smile on his face immediately after reading it. He knew that there was definitely good news in this letter, so he asked: "Why, what's the good news?" What?"
Li Dingguo received the letter and looked around. Even though they were all his own, he still lowered his voice and said: "The Governor-General stated in the letter that he would use surprise attacks to annihilate the current Mughal Empire's army in one fell swoop."
When Phillips heard this, he couldn't help being surprised and asked quickly: "How to annihilate them? After seeing our army arriving, they think they can't defeat it and won't retreat?"
Li Dingguo smiled slightly and whispered to him.
Phillips' eyes widened when he heard that. After hearing that, he thought about it carefully and couldn't help but sigh: "You Easterners are really good at seizing any opportunity. It's awesome, it's awesome!"
Li Dingguo actually admired this. Although he sent someone to report the details of the previous war, if you want to infer the current war situation from the details and make corresponding arrangements, you have to say that Governor Yan is a good fighter!
At this time, Phillips turned to look at the British warships outside and said with confidence: "Marshal Li, I am very glad that our King has chosen to ally with your Ming Empire. I believe that those we lost to the British, There will be a day of repayment!”
After hearing this, Li Dingguo turned to look at the British warship, nodded solemnly and said: "Don't worry, when the Governor arrives, he will definitely avenge you!"
Phillips heard and nodded again. At this time, after many experiences, he understood the strength of the Ming army. He was convinced by the Ming army. He no longer had any intention of resisting the Ming army. Instead, he was glad that Portugal could form an alliance with the Ming Dynasty.
However, Dara Shiko on the shore saw reinforcements from the Ming army in Bombay. Although it was only a few Portuguese warships, he felt very uncomfortable. He did not see the naval battle being fought to the death, so he was very unhappy and summoned Max, ask them if they are not working hard enough?
But this time, Max's attitude was a bit tough and he refuted the naval battle. If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. The Battle of Bombay will not change just because there are a few more Portuguese warships. Anyway, the British side guaranteed that enemy warships would not interfere with the landing of the raft troops. Whether they could capture Bombay ultimately depended on the Mughal Empire.
Dara Shiko had no choice. If he wanted to capture Bombay, he needed the help of the British, so he vented his anger on his men and ordered them to continue building rafts. If he wanted more rafts, he must build the rafts at once. , end this damn war!
