"Quick, quick, hurry up and gather everything together. The sun is going to set soon, and it will be troublesome to load the ship in the dark."

"In the desert area, it will be very cold once the sun goes down. Tell the brothers to stop working in single clothes and add a coat."

This is the village of Rummanai at the northern end of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt in July 1625. After the Ottomans voluntarily gave up sea control in the Eastern Mediterranean in October last year, a small port was built here. The Ming Dynasty’s aid supplies came from the peninsula.

After being unloaded in Suder in the middle, it is concentrated here across half of the Sinai Peninsula and transported to Istanbul by sea.

In order to improve efficiency, Iprahim laid two railway tracks between Suder and Rumanai: they are simple railway tracks without steam locomotives. The entire Sinai Peninsula is basically a large desert with a very flat terrain. As long as there are railway tracks

, it is also very efficient to push the baggage vehicles manually.

After all, the time of taking power was too short, and the production capacity of various Ottoman heavy factories was seriously insufficient at this time. Therefore, this rail transportation line, in a sense, was the lifeline of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, at the beginning, this transportation line

The guardians are an elite group of Sipassi.

But now, it is the Sixth Division of the Ming Army that controls and guards this transportation line.

Since receiving Zhu Youdong's order to withdraw troops in April this year, the entire Sixth Division, from the division commander Zhao Lijiao down, has been somewhat reluctant.

Overall, the Ming Dynasty and the Ottomans were allies at this time, while the Spanish were an enemy that sold opium to the Ming Dynasty and caused heavy casualties to the Ming Dynasty in Manila. Therefore, to help the Ottomans fight the Spanish, the officers and soldiers of the entire Sixth Division

It doesn't feel abrupt at all.

Personally speaking, the Sixth Division has been stationed in Ottoman for more than a year. Apart from not being able to eat pork or drink wine, it is generally a very happy life. Now that war is coming, the emperor actually asks us to withdraw our troops? Then we can't

Have you killed the shameless person who abandoned his friends in the face of war?

However, the emperor's will must be carried out. So Zhao Lijiao discussed with Chen Zizhuang, the Ming Dynasty ambassador to the Ottomans, and decided to move the entire army. At first, they were really planning to station in Istanbul and fight the European coalition forces after the six front lines were breached.

Street fighting.

Where should the defense be moved? The Sinai Peninsula. Since this is the place where the Ming Dynasty’s aid supplies landed, it is of course also the place where the Ming Dynasty’s army will retreat if they really want to retreat.

In fact, Chen Zizhuang and Zhao Lijiao have jointly submitted a memorial to Zhu Youdong: Your Majesty, it is better not to withdraw. If you are really worried about our casualties, then we will be stationed in the Sinai Peninsula. In this way, I, the Ming Dynasty, will

Ottoman assistance is guaranteed, and if the Ottoman mansion is really about to collapse, it will be convenient for us to retreat.

Of course, due to the distance, this memorial is still on the way. But the Sixth Division has indeed moved to the Sinai Peninsula as a whole.

After the Sixth Division arrived here, it liberated several thousand Sipasi who were originally stationed here, and also greatly improved the speed of material transportation here. However, after all, it lost control of the sea, so the Ottoman fleet only

It could be that they slipped out of the Aegean Sea the night before, hid in Beirut or Gaza during the day, entered Rumanai around dusk to load goods, and then drove away under night cover.

Generally speaking, transportation has been relatively smooth in the past few months. But that is only because the European coalition forces, especially the southern front, made a big mistake. Now, when Morris took over the southern front commander and gradually straightened out the

After the relationship between the parties...

On this day, when the sun gradually set in the west and the sky gradually turned dark, although the originally busy but generally orderly air in Rumanai Village, bursts of piercing sirens suddenly sounded!

"Deputy division commander, the Third Battalion on guard on the west side of the port sent a warning. More than ten miles northwest of our army, a large number of masts and a line of black smoke were found."

&nbd, This is a Spanish ironclad! How did they find it here?" The person sitting in Rumane at this moment is Luo Xiong, the deputy commander of the Sixth Division and the commander of the First Regiment: The Sixth Division is stationed in the entire

In the Sinai Peninsula, Zhao Zhijiao would not be so stupid as to put the entire division in a small village like Rumanai - that would not be able to fit in.

Even the so-called first regiment stationed in Rumane actually only had one battalion and one regiment headquarters in the village.

As for how the Spaniards found this place, of course it was because the Ottomans also had a leading party.

As a commander who fought with fewer enemies for a long time in his early years, Morris paid great attention to intelligence. Without accurate intelligence before, his small army of more than 10,000 people had long been unaware of the large forces of Albrecht and Spinola.

The troops had been swallowed up so many times. Therefore, after taking over the command of the southern front, in addition to commanding the main force to continue to bombard the Alexandria defense line repeatedly and gradually advance slowly, he also contacted the indigenous people on the ground in Egypt everywhere: Work for us, money

Ah, there are plenty of food supplies.

For most people, faith always comes second to bread. Therefore, after spreading money and food, Morris had countless eyes and ears on this land.

Then of course news came: There are railway tracks along the Isthmus of Suez in the Sinai Peninsula, and a large amount of materials were unloaded from the northern end of the Red Sea and shipped north by sea.

Morris was overjoyed after receiving the news and immediately notified the navy to send out a fleet to search. Then at dusk that day, the Spanish fleet finally touched the periphery of this material transfer point.

However, the Spaniards were searching after all. The Ming army was always on alert and highly vigilant. Therefore, it was the Ming army that discovered the Spaniards first.

"Notify the fleet outside the port to evacuate immediately no matter how much is loaded!"

"yes!"

"Gather the troops and withdraw at least two kilometers south along the railway tracks."

"As you command!"

"Inform the second battalion at the rear to all enter the machine gun positions."

"yes!"

As an experienced officer who fought from Siam to Japan and then to Manila, Luo Xiong immediately issued a series of orders. The well-trained officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty also nervously and orderly began to carry out these orders.

Implement item by item.

...

"God, what do I see?"

More than half an hour later, the Spanish fleet arrived at the village of Rumane. On the new Casti, the commander of the squadron, the Duke of Alva, was surprised to see in his telescope a man who already had

A port of considerable size.

On a mast in the center of the port, a fiery red flag with the sun and moon side by side was fluttering in the wind.

"Damn it! It's the Chinese! They actually have a port here!"

"Your Excellency, I have long heard that the Chinese have been aiding the Ottomans over the years, and now it seems that this is indeed the case."

"Huh!" As the Duke of Alva, who was taught a lot about how to behave by Li Guozhu in Manila, his mind does not have the common ideas that ordinary Europeans have been forcefully instilled by newspapers such as "Marca" in recent years, such as the Chinese are spreading rumors.

The concept of the devil of viruses. On the contrary, he respected this powerful opponent very much. However, such a powerful opponent is actually supporting Osman on a large scale?

"Order, the fastest second-level battleship detachment in our fleet will immediately move to the northeast. If my guess is correct, there must be an escaping transport fleet ahead. If we really catch it, don't sink them all. I will

Look what the Chinese sent to the Ottomans."

"yes!"

"Well." After giving this order, Alva raised his telescope and observed the port carefully: "It seems that the enemies on the ground are retreating. How long will it take for our transport ship to catch up?"

"Your Excellency, the fleet has been keeping its speed at about four knots during this period to ensure that we are not too far away from those slow transport ships. Therefore, they will be able to approach us in twenty minutes at most."

"I remember, these transport ships carry a regiment, right?"

"Yes, Your Excellency. The Third Infantry Regiment of the 17th Division, but they only have light weapons and no heavy artillery."

"That doesn't matter. Notify the rear transport ship. After they come up, let the infantry regiment go up and land, and then go south for reconnaissance!"

...

As an army trained by Rodolfo himself, this Spanish infantry regiment was naturally well-trained. After the transport ship put it ashore, they quickly completed deployment, reorganization, etc. However, this infantry regiment

After all, there were only three thousand people, so after all the work was completed, the sun had completely sunk into the horizon and the sky quickly dimmed.

"Quick, quick, build a simple machine gun fortification immediately. Where are the bags? Quickly fill them with sand and pile them up."

The infantry regiment was commanded by a Basque named Garcia. As one of the first young officers to follow Rudolf, his military quality was unquestionable. After getting off the shore, he took a rough look at the terrain and sky.

He immediately corrected the Duke of Alva's order on his own initiative: reconnaissance at this time is useless! God knows how many people the other side has? It is better to stabilize our landing position first and wait until it gets brighter tomorrow.

However, he has the basic qualities of an officer. The opposite Luo Xiong also has the same qualities.

At the beginning, Luo Xiong retreated because he was afraid of the opponent's naval guns: the 150mm naval guns on the Ming Dynasty's own iron-clad ships could hit five kilometers away. Now that the opponent's iron-clad ships were coming, it would be better to withdraw a little further.

However, when the sun sets and night falls, his thoughts are different.

"Shall we bring up all our regiment's own cannons?"

&nbmThe artillery and ten mortars are all pulled up."

"Well, it's a pity that the artillery regiment is not here, and we still have too few guns of our own. Regardless, let's set up the guns first. As for the coordinates, haha, we just withdrew from the village! Order our artillery, all
Chapter completed!