Chapter 668-Mediterranean Squadron
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
The Spanish people asked and asked, finally arriving at the conclusion of Atlantis.
"Apart from this, there is no other way."
After the truth was revealed, their moods became even more complicated. If they had truly lost to the Shanhai City voyage squadron, they would not be able to accept it. After all, in their eyes, Shanhai City represented the east, which was synonymous with backward.
However, if it was the Atlantis Civilization, it would be a whole different story. In their eyes, Atlantis represented a whole new and advanced system.
"If we think about it this way, we did not lose too much face." The Spanish consoled themselves.
However, they felt complicated about the Atlantis island that had just reappeared. Facing this cause of their destruction, they felt a love-hate relationship.
The battle with the voyage squadron had made them fall far behind in the search for Atlantis compared to the other countries.
If they did not act, it would all be over.
However, the destruction of the invincible squadron posed a huge problem. This was without mentioning the fact that the Shanhai City squadron was still roaming the Gibraltar Straits and staring at them.
"Don’t tell me that Shanhai City is going to extort us once more?"
Thinking about the chance of this occurring, the Spanish wanted to vomit blood.
The Lords along the seas even said, "Now, it is not about going out to sea; we must prevent the voyage squadron from attacking our territory. A country war is imminent, so the matter of Atlantis should be left for another time!"
"Well said!"
Finally, the Spanish realized that the country war was far from over.
The entirety of Spain instantly entered a crazy battle preparation state; they were determined to stop the enemy on land, "If they dare to attack us, they will not return!"
One had to say that even though this proud race had faced some setbacks, their personality was hard to change.
This news from Spain made it easier for all the spies from the various countries. They did not need to do much and could learn about everything that had happened in the Mediterranean, passing the intel to their Lords.
This time, the Mediterranean region was in an uproar.
"The Spanish Invincible Squadron has fallen; their glory is no more!" This news was just too massive.
Not only France, even Italy, Greece, and Egypt saw the chance to attack the Mediterranean. They wanted to make use of this chance to break the control of Spain and swiftly become a strong country in the region.
Of course, there were some Lords who were worried about the voyage squadron. Even the Invincible Spanish Squadron had fallen to Shanhai, so would there be room for them in the Mediterranean in the future?
"We are afraid of blocking a tiger from the front but a wolf creeps up from behind!" This was their worry.
The Lords had complicated feelings. They were afraid of the strength of the Shanhai City squadron, but they were unwilling to give up the chance to rise up in the Mediterranean.
With that, all sides held many meetings to try to strike a balance.
The entire Mediterranean became chaotic to the extreme.
On the contrary, France’s Lord Henry had a certain attitude. When he received the news, he immediately contacted his officer in hopes of forming a strategic alliance with Shanhai City. He was willing to add much more to the terms that he had set before.
The Mediterranean looked like it was going to flip upside down, but Ouyang Shuo acted like everything was normal and continued on as usual.
In the guest room of Dragon Head, Ouyang Shuo was discussing appointment matters with Alvaro.
Alvaro was born in Spain and was extremely familiar with the Mediterranean and the Atlantis. The Spanish Invincible Squadron in history walked out of the Mediterranean and entered the Atlantic under his guidance.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo had no reason to move him back to China. If he did, it would be like destroying a treasure. The best choice would be to form a new squadron here in the Mediterranean.
Ouyang Shuo planned to build a fifth squadron under the Nanyang Navy, which Alvaro would become the fleet admiral of.
The backbone of this squadron would be the 56 thousand Spanish soldiers and the 20 thousand sailors.
Under normal circumstances, the Mediterranean Squadron would need to be mixed up.
As such, Ouyang Shuo let Zheng He choose some capable generals from the voyage squadron and added them to the Mediterranean Squadron. At the same time, he set a rule that more than half of the core generals in the Mediterranean Squadron must be local Shanhai City soldiers.
With that, the Mediterranean Squadron would be formed up from the Spanish Navy, the Shanhai city local soldiers, and the pirates from the Gulf of Aden. The three of them merged together, providing good internal competition.
The Mediterranean Squadron was alone out at sea, not to mention that Ouyang Shuo was just getting to know Alvaro. Even if they were his own generals, he would still defend against them.
The shortfall in the voyage squadron was naturally filled up by the Spanish Navy.
Based on the Shanhai City navy allocation, a full squadron would have 110 thousand soldiers, a crew of 14 thousand. There would be five divisions, each having 22 thousand soldiers and a crew of 2800.
Based on the current numbers, they only had enough to build two and a half divisions. Ouyang Shuo gave Alvaro the power to build three divisions. As for the 10 thousand they lacked, they would be filled up in the future.
The Mediterranean Squadron would not only patrol the Mediterranean but also the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Even the navy unit in Somalia City was under the control of the Mediterranean Squadron.
Undeniably, this was going to be the squadron under the Nanyang Navy that was in charge of the biggest sea region.
……
The moment he received his appointment, Alvaro's loyalty stat rose by 10 points. He did not expect the Lord to treat him with such importance and grant him such a crucial post.
The current scale of the Mediterranean Squadron was enough to compete with the Spanish Invincible Squadron in history. Furthermore, the Lord had already promised he would fill up the remaining two divisions when the time was right.
Of course, Alvaro was an experienced general after all, so he instantly got into his role.
"Lord, what about the uniforms of the Mediterranean Squadron, the weapons, and the warships? Also, the base and logistics, what are the plans for those?" Alvaro was truly straightforward.
Zheng He, who was sitting at the side, frowned when he heard these questions.
In his eyes, Alvaro was a little disrespectful.
"General Alvaro, please pay attention to your words. Do not be rude to the Lord!" Zheng He reminded him.
"What?" Alvaro's brows tightened; he did not understand what he had said wrong.
When Ouyang Shuo saw this scene, he waved both of them off in amusement.
In truth, this was the difference between eastern and western culture. Easterners were more reserved, humble, and polite when they spoke. On the other hand, Westerners were more direct and efficient.
It was only a cultural difference.
"Well asked. The military uniform of the Spanish Squadron definitely has to be changed. As for equipment, general can discuss with Admiral Zheng He and base it on the strengths of the soldiers to flexibly adjust," Ouyang Shuo said.
Alvaro and Zheng He exchanged glances and nodded, "Understood!"
Zheng He was Alvaro’s superior. As someone who was in the military, he would naturally follow the rank system and respect his superior.
Alvaro also knew that Zheng He's reminder was a genuine one. It seemed like he still needed to get closer to Zheng He to learn how to merge into the Shanhai City system.
"The needed warships will be built in Somalia's Friendship City. They will probably be handed over in two months." Ouyang Shuo was not planning to use the large number of Galleons they had acquired.
Ouyang Shuo paused for a moment before he continued, "As for the housing and logistics problems, they will be solved together. I've decided to immediately set off for Gibraltar Port after fishing out the cannons; we will reclaim it."
The meeting room fell silent; instantly, the smell of gunpowder rose up.
7th month, 29th day, the voyage squadron, which had returned with their bags full, once again occupied Gibraltar Port.
Spanish Lord Juan had left a portion of his army at the port. When the news of the Invincible Squadron’s failure spread back, they immediately left. However, before they left, they nabbed all the residents and even burned the port.
It seemed like they did not have any hopes of reclaiming the port once more.
The current Gibraltar Port was basically a ghost town.
Looking at the charred port, Ouyang Shuo had a rather complicated expression. However, amongst the squadron, Alvaro had the most conflicted expression. He did not expect the Spanish players to be so decisive.
"Let’s build an invincible fort right here upon these ruins."
In the game, Gibraltar formed a large concave, and the mountain ranges that surrounded it made it a natural harbor. Three sides had mountains, and one side faced the sea. It was perfectly separated from the Spanish mainland; not even small paths between them existed.
The foot of the mountain was narrow; it covered less than 50 square kilometers, even smaller than Friendship City. As it was near the sea, the soil had a high salt content and normal crops were unable to grow here.
Most of the old residents lived off fishing while some imported soil to plant crops in their homes.
In the 3rd year of Gaia, before long distance trading was prosperous, the strategic position of Gibraltar Port was not evident. Only a few merchant ships ever passed, which made it hard for the people to purchase necessities.
Even so, there were still people who lived here.
Although Gibraltar was a place with nothing much, it could still be considered a paradise separated from the world. Who knew that it would change hands so many times in such a short period.
Ouyang Shuo did not care about the fates of the people Juan had taken away. Currently, he was thinking about how to turn this place a war fortress; he wanted to prevent the Spanish from reclaiming it again.