"Present!"
Yanhuo Yaonie stepped out.
"I order you to immediately return to camp and gather up your squadron at the fastest speed possible. Take down Maldives within a week. If you succeed, I'll give you one great merit!" Ouyang Shuo ordered.
Maldives had no more than 40 thousand players, and their imperial city of Male had only four thousand people. Their combat occupation players would not exceed seven thousand in number. Facing such an opponent, the Indian Ocean Squadron could handle it alone.
Furthermore, Maldives was made up of many islands, so it was suitable for a squadron to attack.
This battle would be a test of the overall ability of the Indian Ocean Squadron. The five squadrons that Ouyang Shuo designed should have the ability to disembark and fight without needing the help of the army.
The gunners in the squadron should not be shooting from the ships. Only by going ashore could they be considered warriors.
"Yes, my king!"
Yanhuo Yaonie bowed and immediately left.
Once they took down Maldives, the trade route's Indian Ocean portion would have a new place to rely on, and it would not be restricted by the Peacock Dynasty. It gave Great Xia one more chip against the TWP.
The only thing was that with the rise of the Peacock Dynasty in the Indian Ocean, along with the Arab and Persian empires joining in, the future Indian Ocean would not be so peaceful any longer.
After Yanhuo Yaonie left, Ouyang Shuo said to Alvaro, "As for the Mediterranean and Atlantic portion, how is general preparing to face it? Do you have any good strategies?"
Compared to the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Ocean and Atlantic Ocean was more complicated.
The Mediterranean was one of the core places of Europe, and around it was traditional ocean powerhouses. Along with the fact that it was connected to the Atlantic Ocean, it connected the entire Europe together.
Not only that, but it also brought together Africa and America. Along with TWP being established, the European and American Lords would only increase their colonization of Africa. As such, conflicts with Great Xia was expected.
At the same time, along with the rise in trade, Great Xia would not be the Central pillar in global trade and the passing European and American merchant ships would quickly exceed theirs.
Both sides had the same purpose, and they had a natural linked relationship.
Alvaro's Atlantic Squadron would face he strong squadrons of the Dawson Empire and the House of Tudor at any moment. To say that they were treading on thin ice could not be more correct.
Although that was the case, Alvaro was still confident.
"My king, I feel that to break the problem in the Atlantic, the key lies in the Mediterranean. And the key to breaking the lock of the Mediterranean is in North Africa." Alvaro analyzed.
"Why do you say so?"
Ouyang Shuo's interest grew. Looking at the situation, Alvaro had thought about it.
"The British, French, Dutch, German, and the other countries could use the Atlantic Ocean to trade with the Dawson Empire. With just the Atlantic Squadron, we cannot stop them no matter what."
Ouyang Shuo nodded, agreeing with his statement.
"Only the Mediterranean has some place to maneuver, as we are restricted by our agreement and because we have both the Gulf and Aden and the Gibraltar Straits. However, we cannot enter the Mediterranean and increase our influence; this is why they could join TWP."
"Our Morocco and Somalia Provinces are located one east and one west of North Africa, and it does not stretch into the Mediterranean, giving the Atlantic Squadron no reason to enter it. Hence, I suggest we choose Algeria and Ethiopia as our targets."
"In the long term, we can try to take down Libya, Egypt, Sudan, and other nearby countries to try to break through to South Africa and connect the cities together to form a combined strength."
"This...."
The grand plan that Alvaro described shocked even Ouyang Shuo. If they followed his plan, they had to at least take down five African countries.
On the contrary, when Zhang Liang heard it, his eyes lit up, and he stood up, "My king, I have realized that our current strategy in Africa is too conservative. Along with the Europeans and Americans colonizing the area, our peaceful strategy is not useful anymore and needs to be adjusted."
Ouyang Shuo kept silent as usual. Suddenly, he stood up and went in front of the map, staring at North Africa. When Alvaro and the others saw that, they all hurriedly got up and stood around.
"Algeria, population four million!"
"Libya, population 600 thousand!"
"Egypt, population nine million!"
"Sudan, population four million!"
"Ethiopia, population 10 million!"
Ouyang Shuo was like a human statistician, reading out the player numbers of each African country, "The troops we have there are only the Morocco Formation and the Somalia Formation, a total of 200 thousand."
"Not mentioning taking down all five, but even just one Algeria would be a problem. Of course, the Imperial Court can send troops over, but the current China problem is not settled. Fighting on three fronts, how can we go on an expedition?"
"Furthermore, the North Africa countries come from the same line as the Arab Empire. At the same time, everyone in the Mediterranean wants a piece of them. Facing such a situation, how can we wipe out all five countries?"
Ouyang Shuo's words were like a splash of cold water on all their plans, making them come to their senses.
"Then what the king means is?"
Alvaro asked carefully, as he realized that his words were too simple, so he became timid.
When Ouyang Shuo heard that, he turned around and smiled, "General, you do not need to blame yourself. The long term goal you raised up fits our strategy. You really do have long term foresight."
When Alvaro heard that, his heard calmed down.
"But rice needs to be eaten mouth by mouth, and the road needs to be walked step by step."
Ouyang Shuo finally looked back and sat down once more, "To take down the five African countries, the main point would be strengthening our military presence there."
The expansion of the Morocco and Somalia formations was much needed.
Ouyang Shuo planned to expand them into border defense legion corps, similar to the Hanoi and Beijiang legion corps before the 6th year.
Only then could they talk about fighting the war of North Africa.
"To attack five countries, we must find the best breach. Algeria and us still have a score to settle, and they are located in the middle of the Mediterranean. Their overall player number is not too huge, so it is the best choice" Ouyang Shuo did not totally crush Alvaro's confidence, revealing some of his intentions.
As expected, a light shone in Alvaro's eyes, and he stood up and bowed. He solemnly said, "I understand the king's intentions, I'll work with the Morocco Formation to prepare for war."
"That's for the best!"