_ 74 _ co knew for certain that the Roumeliotes had come he believed that they were in Diu, as he had been told, and sent a messenger to inform his father. He began to hurry on the Cochin merchants, urging them to load their ships quickly because he wanted to go. In the meantime, he made secret preparations to fight the Roumeliotes in case they came, following the advice of the other captains. Chapter: 77 While Mirocem was preparing his fleet in Diu to go and fight the Viceroy, he learnt that Dom Lourenco was in Chaul with a fleet. He at once decided to attack him, for it seemed to him that victory was certain, and once this fleet was destroyed, he could proceed to confront the other ships in the Malabar coast. These he would also overcome, and once this was accomplished it would be very easy to capture the fortresses at Cannanore and Cochin, with the King of Calicut’s help. In this way the Portuguese, would be permanently expelled from India. He told Meliquias of his intentions, and persuaded him to follow him with 34 pinaces, all of them well armed with artillery and plenty of good soldiers. Meliquias agreed because he was almost completely sure that Mirocem’s plan would work, and if it succeeded Meliquias could take most of the credit for it.
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