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Chapter 1394 The Pessimistic Strategist 4
"Russians? Do you believe the Tsar would fight the Ming Empire to the death for the interests of Europeans? Don't forget that many years ago the Tsar secretly signed an agreement with the Ming Emperor to stop eastward expansion, and in return received no less than 10,000 muskets, two smelters and a shipyard."

It was thanks to weapons from the East that they won many wars against Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Crimean Khanate, thus stabilizing their western and southern borders.

Looking around, who else could provide so much aid? England, France, or the Republic? I can say with absolute certainty that there was none. As the Tsar, unless he was foolish enough to commit suicide, he would certainly not afford to offend this major benefactor.

Hearing that his friend hadn't given up, Cohen dropped another bombshell. Actually, this wasn't exactly a secret, at least not in the eyes of the Republic or the King of England.

Every ship of the East India Company sailing to Arkhangelsk port carried firearms and cannons from the Ming Dynasty. Meanwhile, the English, who also traded there, lodged various protests almost every year because their firearms and cannons were not selling.

"My God, could there really be such an agreement? Wouldn't that put the Polish army in even greater danger?" However, this matter was truly a secret to General Tropp, who immediately thought of the military deployment in the Northern Theater and began to worry about the Polish army.

"To be honest, the East India Company was a participant in this agreement, and I myself was the one who implemented it! Just you wait and see, the war in the north will be very dramatic. But no matter how things change, the Poli Federation army will ultimately be the unfortunate ones who suffer annihilation."

Not only did they face sieges from the armies of the Kazakh Khanate, the Bukhara Khanate, and the Ming Empire on unfamiliar land, but they were also betrayed by their own forces, becoming interest payments from the Tsar to the Ming Emperor!

To dispel his friend's suspicions, Cohen went so far as to reveal his less-than-honorable past. He then confidently issued a death warrant for the Poli Federation army, though the exact circumstances of his death remained unclear.

"Then why should the Polish and Russian troops operate together? They've always been at odds!"

At this moment, Tropp suddenly felt that his usually clever brain was not working properly. The United Provinces Republic and the high command of England were aware of this relationship, so why deliberately send a very powerful European army into the enemy's encirclement?
"This is politics, a filthy game. Before I met the Ming emperor, I knew politics wasn't clean, but I didn't know it was this dirty. In fact, the politics the emperor talked about was even dirtier, but I didn't want to believe it at the time."

You are one of my few friends, and you've even spent time in Asia, so you should be able to understand what I'm saying. During my time as Governor-General of Batavia, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty repeatedly hoped that I would resign from my company position and serve in the Ming Empire. A specific position was even offered: Vice Minister of Rites, a very high-ranking official.

Even after I was laid off, he tried to persuade me to stay, predicting that my situation would be awkward if I returned to Europe. But I came back anyway, and overall, he was right again!
Almost no one was willing to believe that a distinguished governor who had served the company for over 20 years would agree to nominate his country simply because he didn't want it to join the ranks of the defeated. Isn't that ridiculous? Without your nomination, my family and I might very well have been hanged on the docks as traitors.

Cohen, who is usually quite calm and reserved, finally couldn't help but start complaining. In front of his generous old friend, he poured out all the unfair treatment he had encountered since returning to the United States, and his words showed obvious remorse.

"...We are not politicians, in...boom...boom..."

Tropp had heard about Cohen's plight, but the only help he could offer was to use his position as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Navy to transfer his old friend to the transport fleet for personal gain. If the battle was won, Cohen would become a war hero, and no one would be able to tarnish his character.

Before securing victory, Tropp wanted to offer Cohen a few more words of advice: never confide in anyone again, and never participate in discussions about the outcome of battles. There were far more extreme hawks within the coalition forces, each wielding considerable power; if he truly angered them, he would be powerless to stop them.

However, just as things were getting started, two loud explosions suddenly came from the sea, most likely originating from the direction of the beach, but the thick fog obscured the view, making it impossible to see what had happened. "Thump thump thump... thump thump thump... bang bang bang... bang bang bang..."

Before the landing troops could report back, a series of sounds came from afar. This time, no one needed to ask—it was the Ming Dynasty's garrison firing artillery. However, due to the thick fog, the scene on the beach was still invisible to the naked eye.

"Notify the hot air balloon: there is activity on the east bank of the Enbird River, which has triggered two landmines. It is suspected that the enemy is landing."

At Command Tower No. 1 on the east side of Enbird Port, Xiao Si rubbed his sleepy eyes and quickly climbed to the top floor. After carefully listening to the report from the duty officer, he looked at the white expanse to the east and helplessly sat back down in his chair.

There's nothing we can do now except report the situation to the lookout in the hot air balloon. The fog in this area is frequent, thick, and strange, occurring 99% of the time before sunrise and after sunset.

The fog rises from the sea and spreads rapidly inland, penetrating several kilometers inland in an hour, but it is not very thick, often only about ten meters high.

At this point, a very peculiar sight appears: most of the buildings in the port area are buried in fog, but the gantry cranes, control towers, and sailboat masts remain unscathed. Standing on top and looking at the ever-churning fog below, one has the illusion of walking on clouds and being in a celestial palace.

Such a spectacle also served as a kind of compensation for the port's defense system. Although the visibility of most gun emplacements and fortresses was reduced to within ten meters, communication between the command tower, hot air balloons, and warship mast lookout towers remained unaffected.

About 4 kilometers east of Command Tower No. 1, on the beach, stands a huge reef, three stories high and hundreds of meters in diameter. This is the easternmost point of the civilian port, known as Millstone Reef.

One kilometer east of Mopan Reef lies Enbird River. Within this one-kilometer stretch, two defensive lines, consisting of trenches, bunkers, and gun emplacements, extend for one kilometer and are known as the East Harbor Defense Zone.

Mopan Reef served as the command post for the Gangdong Defense Zone. The area beneath the reef had long been hollowed out, and two gun emplacements were installed on top, connecting it to the entire Gangdong Defense Zone via trenches.

"Stop shelling! Stop shelling! Dom, go tell the soldiers not to fire indiscriminately! Select one hundred men to go into the trenches by the river to prevent the enemy from crossing the river under the cover of fog."

Zhang Yongling, now dressed in combat gear, was standing at the observation post of Battery No. 1 on Mopan Reef, looking eastward, but unfortunately, he could see nothing but white fog.

After listening to the brief introduction by the black officer, he immediately realized that the shelling would have little effect, and immediately issued a new order to send a centurion from the reserve to the front line for guard duty.

(End of this chapter)