The Strait of Gibraltar is located between the southernmost part of Spain and northwestern Africa. It is an important gateway connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The gorge is only 13 kilometres at its narrowest point, and the current from the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean Sea is 4 kilometres per hour.

In its early years, it was used by Atlantic navigators, and expedition fleets from the countries bordering the Mediterranean frequently passed through it to reach the Atlantic. Today, the Strait of Gibraltar remains an important shipping route from the Atlantic Ocean to southern Europe, North Africa and West Asia.

The British have been stationed here since the defeat of the Armada. Spain, which was weak in national strength, had no way to compete with the British, and could only talk about it.

Having occupied Gibraltar for decades, the British have not been idle, they have been building all sorts of fortifications, thinking of occupying this important waterway forever!

In particular, the appearance of firearms directly raised the level of Gibraltar's defense by several steps. Wu Sangui once built two 360 mm guns in Mumbai, and he was pulled to Gibraltar for defense.

360 mm shells can be fired directly from Europe to Africa. The entire ship passing through the Strait of Gibraltar was trembling under the muzzle of the black hole.

Including ironclad ships, just one shot from a 360-millimeter gun is enough to cause fatal damage. As for the wooden sailing ships, just one shell is enough to get into the soul. Even the ship and the people will all be reduced to pieces.

Li Xiao's layout is to occupy important international waterways, and now the American continent is weakened. What was originally a British North American territory is now divided into thirteen small states.

They weren't even a unified country, and the thirteen autonomous territories were in their own hands, which was very much in line with Li Xiao's appetite.

The last time Washington came to the capital, Li Xiao told Washington the secret of Ming prosperity, that is, freedom.

As long as your country is sensitive enough and free enough, your country will inevitably prosper, I don't believe you look at the people of the Ming Dynasty, everyone is a free person.

Only free people can create a harmonious society and create an economic miracle like the Ming Dynasty.

Washington is flattered and proud to know this amazing secret. After thanking Li Xiao for his kindness, he really went to the people of the capital to conduct a social survey.

"Freedom? What is freedom? Oh, just do whatever you want! That is, we have four or nine cities here, and the rules are big when there is an emperor.

If there is a funeral in the dynasty, the people are not even allowed to sing it. All the theater gardens have to be closed, you see now, where are there so many rules in the imperial court.

As long as you have the money, you can attend the church if you want to. If you don't want to listen to the church, you can also go to the theater teahouse. Look at ......! ”

"Freedom? Of course we are free, but those who are in prison are not free. Life is so good now, there is the emperor's ......! ”

"Our country is very free, as long as you don't break the law, you can do whatever you want."

"Our country is the freest place, even if you say that the handsome person is not, no one will trouble you. We are handsome and generous, and we are allowed to be judged. ”

Washington felt that he had the secret of the country's prosperity and strength, and decided to immediately return home and bring the successful experience of the Ming Dynasty back to North American territory.

Let the hard-working and kind people living there get rid of poverty and become rich quickly.

What Washington didn't know was that the people he had just asked during the day were standing in the office of Xiao Zhan, the minister of supervision, at night, reporting every word he had said during the day.

"I believe this kind of nonsense, and my brain is in water. Everything is discussed and done, and what you can do in one year in the Ming Dynasty will not be able to be done in ten years. Xiao Zhan felt that these yellow-haired monsters were so stupid that they could be so bad.

Daming has today's rich days, and it has never relied on any utensils to cook. The handsome man is to use a whip to drive everyone to a better life.

In Daming, whoever dares to arrange a handsome sentence, someone must stand up and smoke the big ear scraper. If you are not satisfied and sue the official, you will only be beaten even worse.

The people's knowledge is shallow, they can't think about the major affairs of their family and country, they can only look at the acres and thirds of the land in front of them.

There are even some people who belong to the kind of people who are good enough to care about the flood.

Involving these people in decision-making on national affairs can only be a disaster for the country. Besides, many elderly people don't know a single word, and they even have to ask others which side of the toilet is male and which side is female, do you expect such people to have insight?

The future of the country needs to be in the hands of those who have a broad mind and can lead the entire Ming Dynasty forward. For example, Da Shuai is that kind of person, at least Xiao Zhan saw the fact that Da Ming has today all thanks to the blessing of Da Shuai.

Washington returned to North America with a statecraft, where parliament was quickly organized. Washington creatively invented the state power organs that contain each other, and the legislative, executive, and judicial powers are separated.

Washington didn't know what to do, he just wanted to see if Virginia could get it right. In Li Xiao's view, this is just a test field.

Now the Ming Dynasty has a hundred ways to plunge Virginia under Washington's leadership into disaster.

Now that North America is no longer a concern, it is only Europe that needs to be guarded against. Gibraltar, the owner of the card, controls Malta, Crete and other islands, plus the Suez Canal Zone, Ceylon.

The maritime trade routes of the entire Eurasian are completely under the control of the Ming Dynasty. As long as you control trade, you control the flow of goods. Every year, the Ming Dynasty is able to grab a large amount of profits in Eurasia, which is used to fill the domestic infrastructure.

The better the infrastructure of the Ming Dynasty, the lower the production cost. The lower the production cost, the higher the profit, and the more difficult it is for foreign factories to catch up with the pace of Daming's development.

This is a virtuous circle, and as long as there are no major accidents, this virtuous circle can continue until Li Xiao's grandson is eighty years old.

Now all the waterways are under the control of the Ming Dynasty, the only exception is Gibraltar, and this ghost place is still in the hands of the British, which makes the Ming Dynasty feel at ease.

The moonlight shone on the sea, and wave after wave of white spray crashed against the huge rocks of Gibraltar.

The British soldiers inside the hilltop sentry looked down on the strait with guns on their backs. In such weather, you can see the outline of the African coast without a telescope.

It's so calm, it's been like that for decades. The Sentinels have been serving here for three years and will be able to return to the British mainland in two months to visit their families.

Miss her hometown so much that Mary can't wait. This time I will go back and get married, and I will be able to retire from the army and go home in another year.

Compared to those who went to Belgium to fight for life and death, they are lucky. A letter from home said that Mark had been drafted into the army again, and this time he did not know if he would live until the end of the war.

Spain is a good day, look at the moon in the sky, enjoy the warm and smoky sea breeze and get the government allowance safely. These allowances should be enough to marry Mary! It should be enough! It must be enough!

Put the gun on the top of the watchtower, and lean your back against the watchtower to imagine a happy life of visiting relatives.

What he didn't see was that dozens of dark shadows quietly appeared on the north side of the mountain. These black shadows quickly climbed along the smooth stone wall, and they didn't know what kind of tools they used, they could actually climb on such a smooth stone wall, like monkeys.

When the first soldier with oil paint on his face poked his head out with a dagger in his mouth, the sentry was still imagining. The black shadow crept up and crept forward against the grass, wearing only a pair of pants, except for the pistol and grenade at his waist, and the only weapon was the dagger in his hand.

The shadow felt close enough to herself and lunged at it as lightly as a tanuki, covering the sentry's mouth with one hand, and the dagger stabbed into the sentry's third rib with unmistakable accuracy.

Slightly up the third rib cage, you can smoothly cut into the heart. The dagger stabbed and twisted, and he felt the violent convulsions of the sentry in his arms, and the black shadow hugged the sentry tightly. I didn't let go until I couldn't feel the sentry's struggle.

The sentry slumped his neck and fell to the ground.

He waved his hand at the bottom of the cliff, and soon two black figures with ropes on their backs climbed up.

In addition to the rope, the black shadow also carried two huge steel drills on his back.

With the help of the sound of the waves, whenever the waves crash against the rocks. The hammer smashed on the drill, and slowly, the drill was firmly embedded in the ground.

I dragged it hard with my hand, but the steel brazing pattern did not move at all.

The rope was picked up and thrown under the cliff, and soon dozens of dark shadows climbed up the rope. Then, above the cliff below the boat, hoisted up weapons and ammunition.

When everything was ready, it was almost dawn.

The sky revealed a touch of fish belly white, and the black shadows disappeared in the hazy background light.

They walked down the pit and slowly moved forward. When they encounter sentries along the way, they will use their daggers to take out their opponents. They are all the elite of the Ming army, and their perennial training and actual combat have long allowed them to practice a good skill of killing.

When they met two purebred Scottish dogs, one of the big men had a smile on his lips. Standing upwind with a small bag swaying in the wind, the Scottish dog, who had just barked twice, was immediately so frightened that he peed out, and got into the kennel and refused to come out again.

The lifeblood of the fierce lion is to be easy to use, no matter how fierce the dog is, the smell of this smell will scare all pee.

Just as the sun was about to come out, the assault team finally touched the gun position.

The 360-millimeter cannon was really scary to look at, and the commando leader was even afraid that he had enough explosives.

Commander Rog of the Fortress opened his eyes and glanced at the rising sun.

Belgium is now so large that it could fight the French at any time. Thinking that he didn't have to enter the meat grinder, Rogge felt that he had taken the initiative to ask to be transferred to Gibraltar as a commander.

is a small nobleman, and being able to mix with the rank of colonel is already an outlier. It's better to mix until retirement, and just push the responsibility for the further improvement of the family status to the son.

I've been struggling for decades, and now I need to take a break and enjoy a good life. The boring life in the barracks is really tired.

"Orderly!" Rogge shouted, and the orderly immediately pushed open the door and walked in with his ironed clothes.

"Boom!" "Boom!" With two explosions in a row, Rogge felt his head "buzz" and "buzz". His body also bounced twice on the bed, and the dust that shook down from under the beams seemed to be a cloud of smoke in front of his eyes.

The orderly lay directly on the ground, and Rogge could only see his mouth open and close.

Years of military experience, Rogge reacted at once, it was the sound of an explosion. His own fortress was attacked, and who was so bold as to dare to attack the territory of the British Empire.

He didn't care about getting dressed, and Rogge jumped out naked and in his pants. Soon he saw the equally embarrassed Captain Spencer, and Rogge grabbed Captain Spencer's arm: "Go and gather the people together and find out where the explosion happened."

Grab those damn troublemakers and hang them! ”

For decades, Gibraltar has been as calm as a lake. But I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen in my own office.

Rogge's first reaction was that it was the work of the restless Spaniards.

Those cowards have always wanted to retake Gibraltar from the British. But the cowardly Spanish government did not have the courage to declare war on England.

In the absence of any choice, some Spanish nationalists spent their days trying to find trouble with the British. For this reason, England had hanged several Spaniards who trespassed on the forbidden land.

Perhaps, today's thing is the revenge of the Spaniards.

In just ten minutes, Captain Spencer brought a shocking piece of news. The hilltop fort was actually occupied, and the people who occupied the top of the hill were fierce.

A platoon of British troops had just approached more than a hundred meters before they were struck into a sieve by bullets fired from the mountains.

"The battery is occupied? Take it back, no matter what the price is, take it back for Lao Tzu! Colonel Rogge roared madly.

The hilltop battery controls the entire Strait of Gibraltar, and it is impossible to lose it.

Now Rogge felt that there was a hint of something wrong, that ordinary Spanish mobs did not have such a strong firepower.

"Mr. Colonel, I don't think something is right. The sound of shooting on the mountain is very similar to the general-purpose machine gun of the Ming Dynasty. I've been in India and I can hear it. Captain Spencer's face turned pale.

"Da Ming?" Rogge's voice changed tone.

Everyone knows that Daming is the world's number one power. If they were to attack Gibraltar, they would not be able to stop it with their own forces.

Moreover, Da Ming's weapons have always been strong.

"Prepare the anti-aircraft guns, and when you find the Ming airship, you will immediately beat them down. Organize your forces to retake the fort now! "The Ming army's attack was first bombarded by airships. Rogge's first reaction was to kill the Ming army's airship first.

Otherwise, this thing will be raging, and there will be no way to fight this battle.

"Mr. Colonel, this is the second thing I want to report. The two explosions you heard just now seemed to be the sound of the Ming army blowing up the artillery. Spencer's voice was trembling.

"What? The cannon is ruined? ”