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Chapter 1203 A Little Premature
But one night two months ago, the port under construction on Oahu was suddenly attacked. Fortunately, the coastal defense batteries and bunker systems were mostly completed, and the soldiers of the Marine Corps were highly vigilant. They relied on the existing fortifications to repel the enemy, and only lost a whaling ship anchored outside the port and more than a dozen sailors.

When they cleaned up the battlefield after daybreak, they found that some of the assassins who were killed were wearing uniforms and had a number of long and short muskets. Tao Daxiang and the commander of the Wenjia Guard, Ma Lun, did not know the origin of the uniforms, but two old boatswains in the East China Sea Fleet recognized the origins at a glance. They were Spanish uniforms and weapons.

The two officers had participated in the battle to capture Manila, and one of them had even guarded Spanish prisoners, so he remembered their attire and weapons clearly. Even if there were slight differences, they were generally the same style.

After a careful count, some evidence was found from several other bodies, such as private letters, weapons with names, clothes, military flags, etc. The Spanish that was very similar to Latin further confirmed the two officers' speculation.

At this point the answer is very clear. The Spaniards in America discovered the naval base on Oahu Island and most likely knew that it belonged to the Ming army, so they launched a sneak attack in the middle of the night in an attempt to remove this threatening thorn in their eyes in advance.

As for how they were discovered, it was probably the two sailing ships that were blown over by the typhoon a few months ago. The construction of Pearl Harbor was very large, not only in the harbor, but also in both sides of the waterway exit.

During the day, there was smoke from cooking and the sound of explosions. At night, the lights were bright, and ships carrying wood were anchored in the waterway. As long as you were not blind and had a telescope, it would not be difficult to see them from more than ten kilometers away.

As the ancients said, it takes a thousand days to be a thief, but it takes a thousand days to guard against thieves. The island of Oahu alone is more than a thousand square kilometers, surrounded by bays and beaches. It is difficult for the thousands of marines of the Wenjiawei to defend everywhere.

If the enemy attacked again, Lu Zhanwei would be able to protect himself, but the safety of the more than 5,000 craftsmen and a large number of living facilities on the island could not be guaranteed. A fire could destroy more than a year's efforts.

The responsibility was too great, so Tao Daxiang and Ma Lun discussed and decided not to wait for the regularly scheduled communication ship. Tao Daxiang would personally drive the ship back to the capital to report to the Naval General Staff in person.

As a result, when he arrived in the capital, the Navy Staff reported the situation to the General Staff, and then the matter could not be moved forward. The emperor who could make the final decision was far away in West Asia, leading the army in person, and no one was qualified to make such a big decision.

There was no other way but to walk on two legs first. The Chief of General Staff astronaut signed a temporary order to dispatch two armed cargo ships loaded with supplies from the East China Sea Fleet to urgently reinforce Oahu. At the same time, a communication ship was sent to the port of Hormuz day and night to inform the emperor of the matter.

When Hong Tao saw this secret report, a word flashed in his mind: plans cannot keep up with changes!

The Spanish had been in America for a hundred years but had not discovered the Hawaiian Islands, or if they had discovered them, they had no intention of occupying them. How come they knew about it just over a year after I arrived? Could it be that there was really a will in the dark?

I had originally planned to stay in the beautiful city of Damascus until autumn under the pretext of peace talks, and return home to appreciate the exotic customs. If conditions permit, I can also follow the Europeans to visit Jerusalem.

By the way, see if there are any North African beauties or something. The absence of a prince does not mean that there is no demand. Properly enriching the harem is not only not considered extravagant and licentious, but also welcomed by all the civil and military officials in the court.

Now, before we even reach the walls of Damascus, our family has sent us a death warrant. We have to go back. This matter is too big and too complicated to communicate by letter alone. "Sidon and Beirut ports are still in the hands of the enemy. We can send reinforcements by sea. Should we send a thousand households to control them first to avoid more trouble?" Hearing that the emperor really had something important to deal with, Lei Laohu had to stop his efforts, but Yang Zhiyi was still unwilling to give up and planned to lead his troops to attack the coastal ports.

"Okay, you will be in charge of the coastal ports. Remember two things: strike hard at the Ottoman defenders; persuade the local tribal armed forces to surrender, and then carefully identify them. Be vigilant against European mercenaries, but don't reject them. In short, treat them differently."

This time, Hong Tao did not stop him and happily handed the combat mission to Yang Zhiyi. These two ports were originally in the plan. Although there was a possibility of negotiation with the Europeans, it had not become a reality after all. Grab what you can get first, so that you can have more bargaining chips when the negotiation really comes.

"Send this letter to the naval communications ship at Fao Port. It's top secret and urgent!" In fact, Hong Tao's heart was no longer here at this moment. His mind was full of maps of the west coast of America, which was the focus of the empire's interests.

No matter how hard they try, they will not be able to become a core area in West Asia. At most, they can train one or several agents, take advantage of the local internal conflicts, use intimidation and inducement, and control the main oil producing areas while dumping goods.

As time goes by, when Europeans also notice the importance of oil, they will certainly try their best to get involved. By then, the situation in West Asia will be in chaos, with the forces of all parties intertwined and complicated, which will involve more and more energy and be very uncertain.

The western side of the American continent is completely different. Except for the Spanish viceroyalties, it is almost a blank slate. There are neither cultural barriers nor religious conflicts. Whoever occupies it can draw the territory as they please.

There were large silver and copper mines in the area, both of which were the most needed minerals for the empire. Europeans were developing plantations there, using a large number of cheap local laborers to grow cotton and sugar cane, and also killing whales to refine oil.

If they are allowed to develop in this way, it won't take many years for them to become highly competitive in similar products, thereby weakening the export of Ming Dynasty products.

Although their production activities cannot be completely stopped, the pace of development can be slowed down through war, thus buying as much time as possible for domestic businessmen to upgrade and transform their industries.

How long will it take? Don't worry, Hong Tao always makes decisions after planning. If he doesn't move, he will do it. If he moves, he will use a series of moves, and even has backup routines. He requires both efficiency and tolerance.

Rushing into the west side of the American continent and gaining a foothold is only the first step. This move will break the monopoly of the four major countries of Spain, Portugal, England and France on the American continent, and complicate the situation.

In fact, Portugal is no longer one of the top four. It, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and other countries have basically withdrawn from the competition for North and Central America, and is alone in South America, where no one is willing to go. As the saying goes, a blessing in disguise, this withdrawal has withdrawn from Brazil.

(End of this chapter)