What happened in Grenada made Li Xiu feel a little disgraced. He never thought that the Spaniards would secretly drop so many mines.

With a feeling of apology, Li Xiu returned to Crete by airship. The Mediterranean Command of the Ming Navy was here, but Li Xiu really didn't want to come back. It was so fucking embarrassing.

When he got off the airship, Li Xiu could only smile bitterly when he saw Li Lin coming to pick him up.

The uncle who had lost the battle couldn't hold his head up when he saw his nephew.

"Second uncle, victory or defeat is a common thing in military affairs. Don't worry about this kind of thing!" Li Lin smiled and saluted Li Xiu.

"What a shame!

Boy, don't laugh at your uncle. Who would have thought that these Spanish Spaniards could actually use fishing boats to lay so many mines." Li Xiu's face turned red.

"Fishing boats go out to sea at night, so it is very difficult to catch them. Moreover, a fishing boat carries one mine and can drop so many mines over time.

Besides, in Granada, it is difficult for destroyers to penetrate too deeply near the coast, so this was the reason for this defeat.

Second uncle, you don’t have to worry about admiring it, and my father has no intention of blaming him." Li Lin smiled and asked Li Xiu to get into the jeep.

"Oh, your father didn't mean to blame me?" Li Xiu's face immediately improved when he heard that Li Xiao didn't mean to blame me.

To be honest, he was still afraid of this big brother. After all, he failed so miserably this time.

Four of the five destroyers sank, and only one stumbled back, still seriously injured. It was basically on the verge of being scrapped!

Fortunately, the destroyer was allowed to explore the way, otherwise the whole army would have crashed into it rashly, and the consequences would have been disastrous.

"Brother really said that?"

"Second uncle, I can still lie to you. You will know when you see my father later.

My father has a big plan and wants to discuss it with you."

The jeep left the airship landing site and drove along the coastal road to the headquarters.

There was no one in the headquarters where staff members usually gathered. Li Xiu looked at the empty sand table and the large map hanging on the wall in a daze!

Several pretty waitresses pushed a small cart on the table used by the staff, placed a few exquisite side dishes and then left.

Li Lin closed the door outside, and Li Xiu was the only one left in the room.

Li Xiu looked left and right, but saw no one. He didn't know what Li Xiao was doing.

The door to the inner room opened, and Li Xiao came out. His face was still wet, his eyes were a little red, and he looked a little tired.

"Still working on a new battle plan, I didn't sleep last night.

Come on, we two brothers should have a drink too. There is no one else, just us two brothers." Li Xiao walked over to the table and sat down, took out a cigar and slowly cut it.

"Brother, what happened this time...! I was negligent." Li Xiu lowered his head, like a child who had done something wrong.

"Hahaha!

Second child, you are the navy commander of our Ming Dynasty. After encountering such a small setback, it has become like this?

joke!

I, the Ming Dynasty, am now so powerful that I can tolerate these small mistakes.

Besides, the fault of this matter is not entirely yours. From me to the entire command, we were all dazzled by Russia's victory.

I feel that what I, the Ming Dynasty Bingfeng, are referring to must be scornful. But in fact, we still don’t really have the world to be proud of.

These mines woke us up. Fighting requires intelligence, bravery, and iron blood.

And you can’t just rely on your momentum!

Before going into battle, you must make corresponding strategies based on intelligence. You must not take it for granted and think that your battle plan will be successful once it is implemented."

Li Xiao sat on the chair and filled the glasses on the table with two glasses of wine.

Li Xiu picked up the wine glass, touched it with Li Xiao hastily, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.

"Okay, don't worry about it. It's just a defeat. What's the big deal?

I think back then, I also lost a battle. In the Western Regions, I lost all my ancestors.

But what happens now? The Western Regions have become the pastures of the Ming Dynasty, where countless foreigners herd sheep and grow cotton for the Han people.

The clothes you are wearing are made of cotton from the Western Regions.

The situation we are in today was achieved through the sacrifice of countless people. There is nothing we can do about it!

If the people of Ming Dynasty want to stand on top of the world, they can only achieve it by relying on iron and blood. Nothing else can do it.

After you lose the battle, you should adjust your mind, try to regain your disadvantage, and then win the battle." Li Xiao said, and had another drink with Li Xiu.

"You're careless! I thought the Spaniards had no warships, so I didn't expect them to lay mines.

Who knew they actually sprinkled so much with fishing boat cloths.

The water channel of Gibraltar is too narrow, and the destroyers do not conduct much reconnaissance on weekdays, but just patrol the exit to block it.

But the blockading ship didn't find that many mines. Alas...!" Li Xiu drank another drink.

Moutai is very strong, and my whole body will feel warm after two glasses of wine.

"Gibraltar is sealed off, not to mention that we can't get through, and neither can the British.

But I have a big plan!" Li Xiao picked up a chicken leg, rinsed it in his mouth and turned it into chicken bones.

He carried a bare chicken bone with only some tendons in front of the huge map.

"Gibraltar cannot be reached, so what should we do? We can only take a detour, go out through the Suez Canal, bypass the entire African continent, and go directly around the Cape of Good Hope.

Then, head north along the west coast of the African continent. Finally arriving in Marrakech!”

Li Xiao kept pointing at the chicken bones in his hand along the map.

Li Xiu couldn't help but take a breath. This kind of ocean voyage was very difficult.

Although the Ming Dynasty ships passed this route, after the opening of the Suez Canal, very few ships left.

The most important thing is that such navigation has far exceeded the endurance capacity of the Ming Dynasty ships.

The boat can run, but the oil is not enough...!

Besides, not everything is settled when you arrive in Marrakech. Does Marrakech have such a big seaport?

Marrakech has the ability to dock so many large warships.

"I have sent a telegram to the Sultan of Egypt and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Let them raise civilians!

The Ottoman Sultan has promised to provide 200,000 civilian laborers. Moreover, he is also willing to bear the food and fodder for these 200,000 people."

"Is he really willing?" Li Xiu looked at Li Xiao in surprise.

"Are you willing? Hahaha, is he qualified to bargain with me? I ask him to go east, but he dares to go west?

Haha! If you let him be the Sudan, he will be the Sudan. If you don't let him be the Sudan, he will be nothing."

Li Xiu looked at his domineering brother in surprise. Indeed, Ming Dynasty was qualified to decide the life and death of many people.

“Not only the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, but also the Sultan of Egypt agreed to send 200,000 people.

But Egypt is really poor and cannot afford to provide these people with food and fodder. I told him to provide him with 300,000 people. We will take care of the food and fodder!"

"Food for three hundred thousand people? This is...!"

"It's just a matter of bringing in more potatoes. It's not a big deal. Just treat it as Ming Dynasty raising more pigs!"

Do you still expect these people to eat the same food as us Ming soldiers? What a joke, Ming rice is for Ming soldiers to eat.

These people only deserve to eat potatoes."

In the Ming Dynasty, potatoes were mostly used to feed pigs. What is eaten as a dish every year is only a small part of the potato production in the Ming Dynasty.

There is no way, the yield of potatoes is too high.

The hard-working farmers of the Ming Dynasty not only planted potatoes on dry land, but also on sandy land. In the south, people grew sweet potatoes with equally high yields.

People in the Ming Dynasty rarely ate these things. However, the officials purchased them in large quantities and turned them into feed for pigs through a series of processes such as cooking and drying.

Now, it will become the food rations for these Egyptian workers.

"I have ordered to continue recruiting five divisions in India to ensure public security in various places!

Also, Geritu also wanted to set up two cavalry divisions to help us patrol. I refused!"

Rejected?

Li Xiu was a little surprised. If we want to open up the road between Algiers and Marrakech, it would be best to have cavalry patrols, because the range controlled by cavalry is much larger than that controlled by infantry.

"Yes! I don't want the Mongols to have the habit of martial arts anymore, and I don't want them to touch guns anymore.

Otherwise, I would have asked the Mongols to form a large army and participate in the Russian war. You don't know, there is a Mongolian battalion under the 9th Division, how fierce they fought and how brave they were.

The descendants of Genghis Khan! The descendants of the gray wolf and the white deer must be guarded against!" Li Xiao sighed.

He has always been very wary of Mongolia.

The Ming Dynasty is not yet powerful enough to ignore them. These descendants of Genghis Khan have barbaric genes flowing in their veins.

This is something that is built into our bones, and it is very difficult to change it the day after tomorrow.
To be continued...