Chapter 3016
Disguising themselves as armed pirates and indiscriminately attacking merchant ships from other countries passing through this sea area may sound like a simple task, but if you think about it carefully, it is not that easy to complete.
For this kind of dirty and active task, the identity must not be exposed, at least no one can have conclusive evidence. Otherwise, the outside world will immediately link the matter to the Star Island authorities, and this is obviously not the purpose of the task assigned by superiors.
Shao Tianhu carefully read the contents of the telegram again, and found that there were no clear instructions such as "kill people and steal goods," "clear out the living," or "sink the target." He believes that this is not an oversight by his superiors or a cautious wording, but rather a failure to include these practices as a must-complete project.
This means that the intensity of the attack needs to be controlled by the commander. It may not be painful or itchy, and it may not achieve the purpose of the action, but if it is too harsh, it may not be the result that the superior is happy to see.
At this time, you have to use your brain to figure out the real purpose of the superior's deployment of this task. And the large number of questions raised by his officers will only disrupt his thinking. All he could think of for the moment was to try to prevent the identity of the fleet from being easily identified.
Shao Tianhu waved his hand to signal his men to quiet down. He needed to clear his mind before making a judgment.
Although Shao Tianhu was young, he was a senior officer with a professional background and was quite prestigious in the mercenary group. Seeing this, everyone quickly fell silent and waited for him to give orders.
In the telegram, the location and target of the operation were clearly pointed out, which were merchant ships from other countries entering and exiting the northern end of the Strait of Malacca. Only attacking merchant ships without touching coastal areas is undoubtedly intended to disrupt the normal shipping order in the Malacca Strait and create a chaotic situation that is enough for Haihan to profit.
The target did not specify a particular country or force, and it was clearly not intended to target a particular business competitor. The operating sea area is designated to the north of the Strait of Malacca, but not within the Strait of Malacca where it is easier to capture targets. Shao Tianhu believes that this is probably to allow the mercenary group to better conceal their whereabouts.
Of course, he also keenly thought of another possibility, that is, his superiors might need to create a suitable excuse to intervene in the situation in the northern part of the Strait of Malacca.
Since the purpose is to create chaos, it is necessary to consider the means that should be used. If someone kills people and silences them during the robbery, or even sinks the ship with all the people, then the news will not be able to spread to the outside world, and it will be difficult to achieve the purpose of creating chaos.
Thinking of this, Shao Tianhu seemed to understand why the telegram did not make clear requirements for the intensity of action. To muddy the waters and create panic is the real purpose of this mission.
Of course, if you don't understand all the details involved, it is easy to understand the mission as simple burning, killing and looting. Once the mercenaries taste the "sweetness" from it, given the military discipline of the mercenary regiment, it may be difficult for Shao Tianhu to Then restrain the people below.
"Bring me the chart." After Shao Tianhu figured out the key, it became easier to make a decision.
"You see, the northeast side of this sea area is the territory of Siam and Kedah, and the southwest side is Sumatra Island. There are only two main trade routes outside the Strait of Malacca, one goes north along the coast on the northeast side, and the other goes west Passing through the Great Strait between our position and Sumatra ”
"But because the city of Banda Aceh is on the south side of the Strait of Great Britain, there will be patrols by Aceh's navy from time to time. If we choose to take action in this area, our whereabouts will be easily exposed."
"So I think it is safer to choose the side closer to Siam and Kedah. Most of Siam's naval forces are concentrated in the Gulf of Siam on the east side of the Malay Peninsula, and Kedah has no decent water at all. Army, there is no opponent that can threaten us in this area.”
Someone asked: "Battal Commander, should we find a temporary place to stay in this sea area?"
Shao Tianhu said: "Is there anyone among us who is familiar with the situation in this area? Can you make some suggestions?" Someone responded: "I have a platoon leader who is from Siam, and his hometown seems to be nearby."< br>
"Call people here quickly." Shao Tianhu gave the order without hesitation.
After a while, the Siamese platoon leader rushed to the venue. After hearing Shao Tianhu's request, he quickly gave advice: "There is a large island near the coast of Siam with many bays where we can temporarily anchor. ”
Shao Tianhu looked at the location he pointed out on the chart. There was the name of the island marked in Chinese characters: Phuket Island.
"Are there any Siamese government agencies on this island?" Shao Tianhu was still more cautious and did not want to cause trouble.
The Siamese platoon leader responded: "Don't worry, battalion commander, although this island is the territory of Siam, there are only some natives settled on the island, and they often move to other places, so they should not be in the way."
After that, he briefly introduced the situation of these natives. They do not engage in farming, and their livelihood is to be pirates and collect pearls. However, due to their limited shipbuilding technology, they can only build some very small sampans. They have to use these small boats and primitive weapons to rob large ships entering and exiting the Strait of Malacca. Successfully The rate can be imagined.
"Turkish pirates? That's great. They are here to take the blame for us." Shao Tianhu immediately made up his mind to use this place to implement his plan.
The voyage from the bay where the fleet is currently stationed to Phuket on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula is a thousand miles and takes about two days. During this period, Shao Tianhu can also further improve his plan.
But on their way to Phuket, they encountered a target coming to their doorstep.
The lookout on the mast spotted two Arab sailing ships in the distance, sailing from west to east towards the Strait of Malacca. Shao Tianhu immediately decided to attack the two ships and ordered them to approach at full speed.
An hour later, Shao Tianhu was able to distinguish with the naked eye the diagonal sail unique to Arabian sailing ships.
The other party had obviously noticed that the approaching sailboats were menacing and had evil intentions. They were desperately adjusting their course, trying to turn south and escape to Banda Aceh.
After chasing for a while, the distance between the two parties further shortened. Shao Tianhu confirmed the location on the chart. This place is still a hundred miles away from Banda Aceh City, but to catch up with these two ships, he will have to travel at least dozens of miles. By then, he may have entered the Aceh navy. patrol range, there is a risk of exposing whereabouts.
Shao Tianhu weighed the pros and cons, and finally ordered to give up chasing the two ships and continue heading towards Phuket Island. Although this pursuit failed to achieve actual results, there was still enough time to take action, and Shao Tianhu was not worried about not finding a suitable target.
(End of chapter)