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Chapter 1206 Secret Arrival 2
Accidents are always the most annoying. If there were no accidents in Hawaii, he could stay in Damascus and have a good talk with the Habsburg envoy. Maybe he could find other inspirations to better solve the West Asian issue.

Then wait for another year or two, prepare the eastern expedition fleet in an orderly manner, and suddenly launch an attack on the west coast of America. The chances of success will definitely be much greater, and the losses will be much smaller.

Now, the west is not settled yet, and the east is likely to start a war again. No matter how strong the court's financial resources and logistical transportation capabilities are, fighting on two fronts is a taboo in military strategy.

"Governor Huang fell off his horse and broke his arm last month, so the students took it upon themselves to keep him in Beijing for dispatch."

Before the emperor arrived, the astronauts knew that he would not be in a good mood, so they were not surprised at this time. However, they were still cautious when reporting one thing: Huang Nanping did not come.

"Well, he's not young anymore, there's no need for him to run around. I'm going to take a bath, you bring the secret document with you, and let the others go to the conference room to discuss first."

Hong Tao did not think this news was a bad thing. Although Huang Nanping had rich combat experience, he was old and had been off the ship for many years, so he was not suitable to command the fleet on a long voyage. Even if he was not injured or disabled, he would not be given the command of the Eastern Expedition Fleet this time. He had to continue to be the Grand Marshal of the Navy and Army.

However, when it comes to expeditions, some information must be read first so that you have a general idea in your mind. Don't get to the conference room and not know the answer to any questions in front of a large group of senior generals. That would damage the reputation of the marshal.

In addition to the five secret reports received in Damascus and Faw Port, four more were received in ports along the way these days, including one written by Tao Daxiang, the commander of the East China Sea Fleet, and one written by Ma Lun, the commander of the Wenjia Guard.

The two of them had a clear division of labor. One led the warships to circle the archipelago all day, and all the high-speed cruise ships were sent to the west coast of America to keep a close eye on the Spaniards' every move.

An officer and a half of his guards laid down their guns and became laborers, helping the original craftsmen to speed up the construction of artillery positions and bunkers near the base, and to improve the defense system as much as possible to deal with enemies that might attack at any time.

At the same time, the two generals on the front line jointly requested the Navy General Staff to increase logistical reserves, from ammunition to food and medicine, to increase three to five times in preparation for long-term defensive operations.

This conclusion was drawn partly by speculation and partly by information collected. Last month, a fast cruiser captured a schooner heading for Panama Port off the coast of Acapulco. After searching, it was found that the cabin was loaded with more than ten boxes of silver coins, silk clothes, jewelry and porcelain.

By questioning the captain and sailors, we learned that these goods were private property of local Spanish officials and their families, but we did not know why they were suddenly being shipped to Panama.

The captain also revealed that thousands of Spanish soldiers had arrived outside Acapulco in recent days. These troops were not from the same group as the troops originally stationed here, but seemed to be transferred from other places.

But the captain and crew didn't know the details, and there was no way to find out. In the end, they were released intact along with the ship and cargo. As for whether they would reveal the experience of being intercepted and interrogated by the mysterious ship, who knows.

Another high-speed cruiser discovered that the silver ship from Lima to Panama Port did not appear regularly. These three ships had to go back and forth once a month, with a very fixed date and route. But they had not appeared in the past two months, at least not on the original route.

This series of changes together made Tao Daxiang and Ma Lun smell danger. However, the Hawaiian Islands were too far away from the mainland, and the emperor was fighting in West Asia, which occupied a lot of land and naval resources. In view of this situation, the two of them did not expect to receive reinforcements quickly, but only hoped to increase supplies and deal with possible attacks with the existing forces.

Even if they cannot win due to the huge disparity in numbers, they can still rely on the terrain and fortifications to inflict effective damage, delaying time as much as possible and preventing more than a year of hard work from going to waste.

"I seem to smell the scent of the imperial cigar. Tan Mingming, do you think someone has stolen my tobacco?"

Soaking in a hot water tub, Hong Tao carefully read every report, changed into clean clothes, held a cigar in his mouth, and entered the meeting room refreshed. Then he frowned again. The room was foggy, and 80% of the generals were smoking.

As the production of local tobacco leaves increases year by year, cigars have gradually lost their halo of being in short supply and are accepted by more people. Especially the navy, when they go out for a short time, it can be as short as ten days or half a month. Dozens or even hundreds of men stay on a small ship, and smoking has become an effective way to relieve their emotions.

Hong Tao was not against smoking, but the smell was too familiar. But if you look closely, the cigars smoked by the generals are different from the royal special supplies in appearance, nameplate and even color.

"Uh... I think it's time to investigate. I'll send someone to investigate in detail as soon as I get back!" Tan Mingming was stunned by the question. He didn't even have time to dust off the cigarette ash that fell on his clothes. He quickly stood up and expressed his opinion in a sonorous and powerful voice.

"Well, I think you have the ability and will definitely get it done. The war in West Asia is not discussed at this meeting. You have read these reports, so tell us about them."

At this moment, the most appropriate way to describe Hong Tao's expression was to use "a smile without a smile on the face". He nodded meaningfully, threw the report in his hand on the table, and sat down with his legs crossed, but his eyes had not left Tan Mingming's face.

It was no coincidence that the deputy chief of general staff was called upon to check the imperial tobacco leaves at the beginning. It was a warning to the emperor. The East Factory had reported two years ago that the military had bought a large piece of land near the Huangzhuang in Xuchang to grow tobacco leaves.

The Advisory Office then conducted a secret investigation and found that it was indeed purchased by the military, and the order was signed by Deputy Chief of the General Staff Tan Mingming, and the purpose was to provide cigars to the military.

Since it was for internal use by the army and not for the market, Hong Tao did not intend to intervene. But later, Jin Gui said that Tan Mingming was suspected of counterfeiting imperial cigars. His method was quite clever. He only wrote the origin of the tobacco leaves, but did not mention whether they came from the imperial farm. This gave people who were familiar with the cigar brand the illusion that the tobacco leaves used came from the same imperial farm.

Then it can be sold at a price higher than the market price. However, this kind of cigar is indeed only circulated within the military, including several important overseas bases, and sales are very good.

Even so, Hong Tao did not intend to intervene. As long as the accounts were clear, it would not violate military law and was in line with the nature of the work of the General Staff. As for suspected counterfeiting, that was a matter of IQ. Someone was selling and someone was buying. One was willing to fight and the other was willing to be beaten. It was purely what he deserved.

But today I just happened to catch up, so I have to warn this capable assistant to avoid him going astray because of his cleverness. It would be a pity if he lost his military position for such a small matter.

(End of this chapter)