Chapter 639-Somalia Pirates
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Since all the administrative matters regarding Xingzhou Prefecture were finished, it was time for the voyage squadron to set off once more.
Before leaving, Ouyang Shuo especially returned to Shanhai City. Not for any other reason, but to use the recruiting opportunity of the General Appointment Stage.
The General Appointment Stage allowed him to choose a historical general below god rank. It was a good item, but one need to think long and hard about which general to recruit.
Thinking about these matters, Ouyang Shuo still decided to recruit a navy general.
In ancient china, naval warfare was never the priority, and famous navy generals were relatively lacking compared to other areas. He was interested in Zhou Yu, Yu Da You, and Zheng Cheng Gong.
Since Zhou Yu was the main character of the next battle map, the Battle of Red Cliff, Ouyang Shuo could not recruit him and could only regretfully give up. Zheng Cheng Gong also had deep animosity with Jiaozhou Squadron fleet admiral Shi Lang, so he was not suitable either.
Hence, only Yu Da You remained.
On the General Appointment Stage, a white light flashed and a middle-aged general with a moustache appeared. He had a worried expression on his face; he was the famous Ming Dynasty general, Yu Da You.
"Yu Da You greets the Lord!" He bowed.
"General, please rise!"
Ouyang Shuo smiled and looked at his stats.
Name: Yu Da You (Emperor Rank)
Title: Ancient China top 10 navy generals
Dynasty: Ming Dynasty
Identity: Shanhai City General
Occupation: Special General
Loyalty: 75
Command: 86
Force: 85
Intelligence: 70
Politics: 60
Specialty: Eradicate Invaders (30% increase in cannon range and power when facing pirates or Japanese navy forces, 35% increase in ship speed, 30% increase in warship defense, 35% increase in navy soldier’s morale).
Art of War: might of the art of war
Cultivation Method: Sword Classic
Weapon: Jingchu Long Sword
Evaluation: Yu Da You was known for being an honest and upright official. Yu Da You's way of using troops was to plan for war and using it for short term gain. He was loyal to his country and extremely firm.
Yu Da You was all rounded. Not only did he possess a military art like the ‘might of the art of war’, he also martial arts like the Sword Classic.
On the topic of the Sword Classic, one might think that it was a sword art. However, it was a stick technique that Yu Da You had developed.
Talking about his stick technique, it had a lot to do with the Shaolin Temple that had not appeared in the wilderness yet.
40th year of the Jiajing Emperor’s rule, Yu Da You, who was good at the Jingchu Long Sword, was ordered to go conquer the south. He specially went to Shaolin to watch the stick techniques of the monks. In the end, he was disappointed and felt that Shaolin Kungfu was lost in the past.
Under the request of the Shaolin Temple host, Yu Da You brought the young but courageous Zong Qing and Pu Cong along with him down south. Over the next three years, he taught them the ‘Yu Family Staff’, a set of staff movement techniques he created based on the ‘Jingchu Long Sword’ and the ‘Yang Family Spear technique’.
Three years later, the two monks returned to Shaolin and taught his teachings to them.
13 years later, Zong Qing met Yu Da You again and told him that Pu Cong had modified his teachings and spread it to the closest monks.
With that, one could see that the Shaolin Stick techniques had benefited from Yu Da You's teachings.
Of course, martial arts were only a branch; his main strength was in naval warfare, especially in fights against pirates. When one mentioned Yu Da You's war achievements, one would have to mention the Ming Dynasty pirate problem.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, some Japanese warriors arrived at the ocean region along China. The Ming Dyansty pirates’ invasion started during the early stages of the Ming Dynasty. When it reached the Jiajing Emperor's rule, the Ming Dynasty’s strength had waned, and despicable ministers ruled. War and conflict also filled Japan, giving rise to the pirate issue.
Due to the economic progress in trading, the goods trading was extremely advanced and lucrative. All trading deals along the ocean were lucrative but due to the Ming Dynasty Ocean prohibition order, trading with other countries was banned.
The tea, porcelain, and silk could all be sold for high prices. If one shipped silk to Nanyang, its price increase by 10 times. With that, some Chinese merchants or pirates like Wang Zhi and Xu Hai started to collude with Japanese pirates to gain riche, forming smuggling organizations.
These merchants thus became a part of the Japanese pirates, being mentioned in the Ming History Japan Diary, ‘Out of 10 there were three real Japanese, while the other seven were Chinese people.’
With that, it gave birth to a bunch of generals that fought against the Japanese.
The most famous of all was naturally Qi Jiguang, who was termed as the hero of the people.
Yu Da You, who was born in the same generation, basically spent his whole life fighting Japanese pirates. The Yu Army he headed always scared the enemy, and the two were called the Yu Dragon and the Qi Tiger respectively. They helped to sweep and wipe out the Japanese pirates who were causing problems for so many years.
Amazingly, although he accomplished so much, his contributions were taken by others, and he was not given an official position. However, he was not concerned with such matters and continued to focus on killing the Japanese pirates.
Such a general was a true gem.
……
That day, Ouyang Shuo gave Yu Da You his appointment.
He appointed the general as the fleet admiral of the Yashan Squadron and gave him the 3rd grade general title of Ocean Protector General. With that, out of the four squadrons, only the earliest formed Beihai Bay Squadron lacked a fleet admiral.
Logically speaking, Yu Da You's specialty was going against Japanese pirates. His specialty aimed at the Japanese navy. However, Japan's nearby waters were too far away from Shanhai City for his skills to be put to use.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo could only appoint him as the Yashan Squadron fleet admiral first before making changes in the future. Ouyang Shuo believed that the day the navy attacked Japan was not too far away.
5th month, 10th day, Xingzhou Bay.
The voyage squadron had finished stocking up, and they once again set sail.
From Beihai Bay, they went past the Malacca Straits and entered the Indian Ocean. The vast and boundless ocean followed.
In the huge ocean, without the star guiding technique, one probably would not even know the direction they were heading.
As they had taken a delay in South East Asia for close to a month, the voyage squadron needed to enter the Red Sea before summer ended. Hence, Ouyang Shuo did not plan to form relationships with India at this time.
The voyage squadron spent a short two days in Sri Lanka, south of India, to restock. Then, they set off once more. Their next stop was Somalia, which was located in the Gulf of Aden.
Ouyang Shuo planned to directly cross the Mandeb Straits and enter the Red Sea after stopping in Somalia.
The journey from the Malacca Straits to the Mandeb Straits was the longest part of this voyage. Even in real life, it would by six to seven thousand kilometers.
The game map had expanded by ten times, making this distance unimaginable.
With the speed of ancient ships, they would need at least three months to complete this leg of the journey.
If one considered the entire journey, traveling from England to China and back would take at least a year. Since the game lasted ten years, this meant that cross-continental trade was basically impractical.
In reality, one trip would take two months.
Obviously, Gaia did not want to make things too difficult for the players. In truth, after the squadron entered the open seas, they had entered a quick sailing mode. Going across the Indian Ocean only took twenty days, extremely magical.
……
6th month, 11th day, the voyage squadron successfully reached Somalia and stopped at Berbera Port.
Berbera Port was located on the north west shore of Somalia, and it was on the south west side of the Gulf of Aden. The neighboring Djibouti Port located south of the gulf was the biggest port in the north of Somalia.
On the topic of Somalia, one had to mention the Somali pirates.
The Somali pirates were common in the Gulf of Aden, robbing and kidnapping people. They were a bunch of criminals who were professionals at robbing ships for their riches.
The Gulf of Aden was located in the middle of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. It was an important choke point when one went from the Red Sea or the Suez Canal into the Atlantic, so it was an important strategic location.
Countless ships that passed through the Gulf of Aden.
At the same time, the Somalia seas were narrow, so it was the ideal spot for pirate activity.
Such circumstances naturally gave birth to many pirate organizations. In reality, the effect of Somali pirates on the various countries were extremely minimal. However, in the game, Gaia had once again revived this part of history.
Hence, the moment the voyage squadron entered the Gulf of Aden, Ouyang Shuo warned Zheng He to maintain alertness at every moment. Weirdly, even when they approached the shore, they still were not attacked by any pirates.
"Maybe the pirates saw that we were warships and didn't dare to come close?" Zheng He deduced.
Ouyang Shuo was not sure, "I'm not excluding that possibility. Even so, we can't let down our guards. After restocking, we will immediately set off. Let's try to get past the Red Sea in one go."
"Yes, my lord!"
Zheng He received the order and started to arrange for supplies.
As for how to resupply, Zheng He was naturally an expert in this aspect, and Ouyang Shuo did not need to worry.
After spending so much time onboard ship, Ouyang Shuo felt a little cooped up. After the warship docked, he brought a small group of personal guards to take a walk around the port.
Berbera Port was the industry center of the husbandry industry of Somalia. Every year, many herders would gather here to sell their animals.
The moment one entered the port, they would be able to see many herders herding their animals; they would also see merchants.
The dirty port, paths with many holes, with animal waste littered everywhere. The Berbera Port in front of them definitely was not a place suitable for rest and relaxation.
Ouyang Shuo had walked for less than ten minutes, and he already felt like returning to the ship. The smell in the air was simply too hard to take it.
"Lord, there's an inn there!" Chen Dameng's eyes were exceedingly sharp.
Ouyang Shuo raised his head, only to see a three-story wooden building with a beer sign on the door. Before they even got close, they could hear the bustle inside; it was an inn without a doubt.
"Go, let's go get a drink!"
Ouyang Shuo felt a jolt in his heart. Apart from drinking, they could also gather intel at the inn.