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Chapter 1207 Attack or Defense
"Ahem...According to the report of the Navy General Staff, on the tenth day of February, Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island was suddenly attacked by unidentified armed personnel..."

The first person to make the report was Tan Mingming. This guy must have felt a little guilty. He read the manuscript while secretly glancing at the emperor's expression. He regained his composure only after finding that there was nothing unusual.

According to the opinion of the General Staff, the fleet will not be called in for reinforcement for the time being. There are two reasons. The first is the lack of manpower. The emperor took away more than 30 main battleships during the Western Expedition, and at least 10 warships are anchored at the Seychelles base, ready to reinforce Enniao Port at any time.

In this case, if a large number of ships were to be requisitioned for the Eastern Expedition, the warships guarding the homeland, overseas territories and the safety of related shipping routes would obviously be insufficient. Especially for transport ships, it was difficult to take care of both the east and the west, but both were indispensable, which put them in a dilemma.

The second reason is that the logistics and supplies are not adequately prepared. We had not planned to march to America this year, and we had not had time to purchase all the equipment needed for the various operations and occupations. Even the factories had no production plans. Unless we used strategic reserve materials, we really could not get enough.

Should they ignore it? The General Staff did not plan to do so. After careful calculation, they believed that the Spanish could not recruit too many combat troops and ships in a short period of time, and the normal scale of invasion could be fully handled by the island defense fleet and the Wenjia Guards.

The only thing that needs to be done is to quickly send transport ships to Pearl Harbor to deliver supplies, not only combat supplies but also construction materials. It would be best to send more craftsmen to speed up the construction of the base defense system, which would be more conducive to defense.

"Your Majesty said that the navy was not meant for defense. I've been to Oahu before. It's very large and the terrain is very complex. It's impossible for a single guard to cover everything.

The houses, warehouses, shipyards, and many ships in the port area were all built with wood. Once a fire broke out during combat, it would be impossible to put out the fire in time. Even if we defeated the invading enemy, we would still lose, and more than a year of hard work would be reduced to ashes.

If it were really the Spanish who came, they could have come again every few months, not to capture but to destroy. Pearl Harbor would have quickly become a bottomless pit and would never have been rebuilt.

The Navy General Staff believed that they should not passively defend, but take the initiative to attack, at least to destroy the existing Spanish naval forces on the west coast of America, so that they would be unable to transport troops across the sea. "

Although both were staff departments, the opinions of the Navy Staff and the General Staff were completely opposite. Zhu Haiou spoke second, clearly opposing the opinions of the General Staff and putting forward new suggestions.

"It's easy to say that we can destroy the Spanish naval power on the west coast of America. Have you ever calculated how many warships and how much time it will take to achieve this?
According to data collected in the past five years, the Spanish have fleets stationed in Lima, Guayaquil, Panama, and Acapulco, and have built shipyards. The number of warships is no less than 30, and with armed merchant ships, the number is probably close to 100.

If it was a head-on battle, even if there were really a hundred ships, it wouldn't be a big deal. The problem was that the Spanish had suffered losses from us more than once, and they were already sufficiently alert and experienced, so they wouldn't necessarily send all their main forces.

If they choose to avoid fighting and use their advantages in terrain and people to go around in circles, what we will face is no longer a few important ports, but nearly ten thousand miles of sea from north to south, and countless islands.

It would be difficult to pull several large fleets over in a short period of time! But it would be difficult to ensure logistical supply over a long period of time. Now 40% of the shipping capacity of the Maritime Transport Division is placed in the Port of Hormuz. The east and the west are more than 40,000 miles apart. How can we take care of both? "

Without waiting for the emperor to make a judgment, the astronaut stood up again and described the current situation in detail, emphasizing the difficulties in logistics. It sounded not only meaningful, but also far-sighted. "Your Majesty, the Hawaiian Islands are located at the doorstep of the Spanish, but far away from the mainland of the empire. Now that they can no longer be hidden, they will definitely become a thorn in the eyes of the Spanish and a thorn in their flesh. Get rid of them as soon as possible.

If we rely solely on defense, we may succeed once or twice, but three or four times may not be enough. Instead of wasting all our resources on passive defense, we should take the initiative to attack and wait for an opportunity to annihilate their main force, thus buying time for the construction of the base."

But Zhu Haiou disagrees with this statement. In his opinion, defensive operations will still consume supplies, involve certain risks, and affect construction progress.

Instead of doing this, it is better to make an all-out attack. If successful, we can buy more time. If we fail, we can still retreat to the Hawaiian Islands and hold on. Apart from paying more for combat supplies, it will not affect safety and construction speed.

"I think both of you have a point, but neither of you can solve the problem. One is too conservative, and the other is a bit radical. Can you get in the middle and combine the strengths of both?"

After listening to the astronaut's report while taking a bath, Hong Tao had a rough plan in mind. Seeing that the two staffs were arguing with each other and neither could convince the other, he decided not to listen to both sides and work together. He stood up and pointed to the map on the table, motioning everyone to come closer.

"It's a relief to think about sending out all our forces for a full-scale attack, but the disadvantages are also obvious. As the Chief of Staff said, if the Spanish avoid fighting, such a large fleet, separated by such a long distance, will not be able to resupply.

But retreating to defense is too passive. Seagull is right. The navy's greatest advantage is in offense. Using one's own weaknesses to overcome the enemy's strengths is obviously not cost-effective, and it will affect the speed of building the Pearl Harbor base. As the saying goes, the longer the night, the more dreams there are. Once a mistake is made, all previous efforts will be wasted. The risk is a bit too great.

This is my plan. I will dispatch two warships from the mainland to the west coast of America to indiscriminately harass the ports, ships and all facilities along the coast.

The principle is to attack the enemy when they are unprepared, to leave after fighting and never linger on, to fight wherever you go, and to rely on looting for food and drink before the ammunition is used up.

The officers present all put their heads on the table. Hong Tao picked up a pen and put a few small black dots on the vast sea area south of Mexico and north of Chile, and drew two long oval areas along the coastline.

"Yes, as Sun Tzu's Art of War says, attack where the enemy is least likely to attack and where they must defend. This will surely make the Spanish unable to sleep or eat, unable to take care of themselves, and feel like a thorn in their back. How can they have the energy to attack Pearl Harbor? Your Majesty, I am willing to lead my ship to the battleship!"

The first one to react was Setel. According to his rank, he was not qualified to participate in such a highest-level combat meeting, but since the emperor had brought his men, no one could kick him out, so he had to arrange for them to sit on the periphery with the young staff officers who were responsible for taking maps and records.

(End of this chapter)