Chapter 390 Seeing and Experiencing
When Debbie's sailboat arrived at Lion City Port, the Great Xia Coast Guard's fast boat had already disappeared.
As the clipper sailboat entered the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca, Debbie could hear curses coming from the other ship.
Throughout the journey, the Taiwanese seemed eager to shake off the pursuit, which excited the Coast Guard like a cat smelling fish, giving chase.
They spent countless precious materials activating the magic array and chased after the enemy for two days and two nights, but in the end they still circled back to Lion City, a place they already knew about. The people from the Coast Guard must be spitting blood.
When Debbie came to Tai Wan from the West, she stopped in Malacca for supplies, and the prosperity of the Malacca Free Trade Zone left a deep impression on her.
This time, she entered Singapore, the key naval port of Taiyuan in Southeast Asia, and witnessed the power of Taiyuan's overseas fleet.
"What are these two ships?" Debbie asked the elf Amyra beside her, pointing to the two huge sailing ships with streamlined, spindle-shaped hulls.
Amira is the young elven who led the delegation to the Western Continent for the "friendly exchange." Before leaving, Allen explained the relationship with the sea tribe to him, so there was no need to deliberately hide some things from Debbie.
“This is the main warship conceived by His Highness Prince Heng, designed and overseen by Master Ximan. We call it a ‘first-class ship.’” Amyra, seeing that Debbie didn’t seem too surprised, added, “As long as it is commanded by a strong person, it can roam the seas and is the nightmare of all ships and ports. No ship, city wall, or fortress can withstand its firepower!”
Debbie nodded. In her opinion, the construction technology of this huge warship was already top-notch in the world, but it was still made of wood. Without a strong person in charge, it would be a piece of junk to be beaten in the eyes of the powerful sea people.
As for Amyra's mention of "artillery," Debbie dismissed it, believing it to be a projectile like a "stone cannon." While Plumi was an excellent intelligence operative for the Temple, he had no access to information regarding artillery.
When the clipper ship Jia 609 finished replenishing its supplies and set sail, two first-class ships with hull numbers Jia 101 and Jia 102 were also setting sail. According to the rules of the sea, Jia 609 gave way to the main channel and allowed the warships to pass first.
"Where are they going?" Promi, who had been an operative behind enemy lines for over a decade, naturally began to gather information.
"We don't know! It might be a sea exercise!"
"Is it alright if we follow behind and observe?"
"Who knows! Although we are a ship belonging to the Prince's Mansion, warships don't give us any special treatment unless the Prince is on board."
Ayramid, seeing the two enormous ships ahead, was itching to follow them. Finally, he couldn't resist discussing it with the captain. After whispering for a while, they decided to follow the two first-class ships and, as long as they weren't driven away, they would just enjoy watching them.
Soon, the two first-class ships ahead sent signal flags, asking what the clipper ship Jia 609 was doing.
The captain had no choice but to have the flag bearer tell the other side, "We are just curious about the new warships, and have no other intentions!"
Just as Amyra and the captain were feeling a bit frustrated, the ship 101 sent a signal: "We're going to Aceh to test our cannons. If you don't mind the slow pace, you can come along and see for yourselves!"
Alamy and the captain were overjoyed. They had only heard about how impressive first-class ships were, but had never actually seen one! The other party clearly also assumed that the people on the 609 A-class ship were from the Prince's Mansion. If they had known that Debbie and her husband were on board, they probably wouldn't have been so ostentatious.
First-class ships are large, and their spindle-shaped hulls are far less fast than the slender clipper ships. So, Jia 609 slowly followed behind the two warships and did not arrive at Aceh port until the morning of the third day.
Aceh is a small kingdom at the westernmost tip of Sumatra. It produces pepper, but in small quantities. However, Aceh port is an important transit point for ships bound for India. Those heavy, large galleons used to resupply here before heading to India.
"However, I heard a few days ago that the Sultan of Aceh was being a bit restless, saying that he wanted to launch some kind of 'holy' war and drive away the caravans that were plundering their wealth."
"Damn it, if it weren't for the caravans of high-ranking officials, no one would want their so-called 'wealth' at all. We gave them the wealth, and now they're turning on us!" The captain of Jia 609 was obviously a frequent traveler of this route and knew something about Aceh.
Ayram's eyes lit up as he pointed at the two first-class ships and said, "So they're here to show off today?"
"Almost certainly!" The captain took out a pipe, lit it, and looked like he was watching a great show.
Aceh Port appears to be divided into two parts from the outside. The eastern harbor has a modern concrete pier with neat and orderly buildings that look very new, clearly a newly built "bonded zone".
The western harbor is filled with small fishing boats and near-shore cargo ships, and the docks are haphazardly built with thatched sheds and wooden sheds.
The East and West Harbors are divided into two distinct worlds by a central cement wall.
Now, outside the cement wall of the bonded zone, there are crowds of local natives armed with weapons. They huddle together, waving sickles and machetes, and shouting loudly at the bonded zone.
There were no cargo ships left in the bonded area harbor. A makeshift low wall made of sacks was erected on the dock, and a large merchant caravan, armed with muskets, was making tense and orderly preparations for battle.
"Waaah... Waaah..."
The loud horn call caught the attention of the group of natives who were having a good time. They turned around and saw two enormous ships that they could never have imagined even in their dreams. They all gaped and were speechless. The once lively scene suddenly fell silent.
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