Although Li Xiao was already prepared, he was still shocked by the news from Grenada.

It is true that the Spaniards did not have the courage to fight, but they did have the courage to lay mines.

In the waters near Granada, the Spaniards, together with the British, laid thousands of mines in one go.

The Navy was in a bit of a hurry, and without adequate reconnaissance, five destroyers entered a minefield.

Then the heaviest losses in the history of the Ming Navy came.

All but one of the five destroyers was seriously damaged and sunk by mines.

The Daming task force, after searching for and rescuing the drowning man, retreated back to Algiers.

When the news broke, the whole Western world boiled. The major newspapers reprinted it, and even France, which had been defeated one after another, held a grand parade in Paris.

On the same day of the parade, the cruise ship St. Orpheus, carrying more than 5,000 people, left the port of Caen and headed for the distant South American continent.

Li Xiao kneaded his eyebrows, the failure of the navy gave him a headache.

As a result, the victory in the European theater will be postponed for at least half a year.

Half a year, how much more military spending will be spent, as well as manpower, material and financial resources.

"There's a telegram from the navy, and the second uncle will come over and ask you for the guilt in person." Li Lin looked at his father helplessly.

Four destroyers were lost at one time, and the other was largely scrapped. The navy suffered more than 500 casualties, and it has to be said that this was the most humiliating battle of the Ming Navy.

"What's the use of asking for sin, to bring a dead soldier back to life? If it is useful to ask for sin, I don't need your second uncle to ask for sin, I will go and ask Lord Yama for sin.

I will build him a thousand Hades palaces in Daming, as long as he returns those loyal and brave Ming soldiers......! ”

Everyone didn't dare to speak, they knew that Da Shuai was extremely unhappy now.

The Ming Navy has never suffered such a fiasco.

Li Lin waved his hand, and all the staff officers in the command room withdrew. Lu Zhu walked behind Li Xiao and helped Li Xiao knead his temples.

Zhao Liangdong quietly pulled Li Lin's sleeve, Li Lin glanced at it hesitantly, turned around and walked out.

"Actually, it should be fortunate that the Navy has only let the destroyers take the lead, and the real troop carriers have not yet rushed to the front.

If the troop carrier also encountered a mine, the consequences would be unimaginable. You know, there are thousands of people in a troop carrier.

The Navy is fighting like this, and our side is also responsible, the intelligence work is not done well, I don't know that the Spaniards will lay so many mines. Luzhu whispered to comfort Li Xiao.

"Mines were there when we attacked India, and we suffered a big loss at that time.

Still so inattentive! The Navy has already developed minesweepers, why is it useless? Could it be that it was built for decoration?

I really don't know how the second child has been the commander of the Navy over the years. The more I worked, the more I went back, and I thought it would be better to find a new naval commander. Li Xiao was still full of anger.

"My commander, even if you want to find another naval commander, you have to find someone with the same prestige and qualifications as the second master.

Do you think, who of us can do it?

You can rest assured, after experiencing this time, the second master will definitely be more careful. ”

"Hey......!" Under the careful kneading of the green beads, Li Xiao let out a long breath.

It's already like this, the ship sinks and people die, even if it's a reborn person, it can't survive, and the ship can't float.

"As a result, the war in Europe will probably drag on for half a year.

Now you don't have to think about it, Gibraltar must have been covered with mines. Our warships could not sail through at all, and the mines were very covert and difficult to clear.

Once you are free from the anchor chain, you don't know where you will drift with the currents.

Demining at sea is not only dangerous, but also a time-consuming and labor-intensive task.

Grenada and the coast of North Africa are more than 100 kilometers, and the Strait of Gibraltar is more than 60 kilometers long and only 25 kilometers wide. How many mines have been laid in there, I'm afraid only God knows.

This has to be scheduled for the Year of the Monkey! ”

Li Xiao covered his head and wailed, if he couldn't take Gibraltar quickly, he couldn't make the British surrender quickly.

If the British do not surrender, things will be uncertain on the European continent.

Since the European War, the country with the least losses has not been Germany, but Britain.

In addition to the loss of fifty or sixty thousand troops on the middle line, the British expeditionary force has actually suffered small losses.

This was due to the fact that they had very few troops, and the number of the entire expeditionary force was generally maintained at about 100,000.

And in the later stages of the war, the chicken thieves withdrew first.

Of course, the British had very good reasons.

Their army was to defend Gibraltar, and as long as Gibraltar fell, the Atlantic coast of the entire Europe, even the Nordic countries, would not be spared.

Even if it gathers the naval forces of the whole of Europe, it cannot compete with the Ming Navy.

Therefore, even if Britain did not contribute many troops, no one in the European countries criticized them.

"Now it seems that there is really no way to attack Gibraltar.

But fortunately, the Germans were already on the verge of defeating the French. Napoleon was desperate to fight the Germans to the end in Paris. Midori was also a little frustrated.

"What France lacks now is not manpower, but war materials. The two-year war in Russia has dragged France to a thin weight.

They can still muster a million troops, but they can equip more than a million people with weapons, ammunition, food, uniforms, uniforms, and so on, and there is no way to get them.

The Great Parisian Fortress, with Napoleon's ability, had no problem holding it at all.

But alas, their armaments are no longer available. ”

"You mean...... Napoleon couldn't hold Paris at all?"

"yes!" Li Xiao nodded.

"Then you say, when exactly will our plans for the Germans begin to be implemented?"

"The plan to break up Germany, of course, cannot be implemented now.

The Germans only occupied Paris, and they continued to occupy all of France.

No matter how fast they were, it would take them three months.

Besides, Ashi wrote a book. In this book, it is stated that if you want to occupy a country, you must not only defeat the country's army, but also station a certain number of troops in the country to ensure the rule of the country. ”

"That's what he said? So, after the Germans defeated the French, they stationed a certain number of troops in France to maintain their rule in France? ”

"That's right! So, it's not a bad thing to let them occupy France. I'm also going to ask Zheng Sen to consult with Ashi to see if they have any interest in Spain, and if so, they can also enter the Iberian Peninsula. ”

"If you say that, will the Germans be suspicious, after all, the benefits we have ceded are too great?"

"This defeat is a good reason why we can't attack the Iberian Peninsula right now.

The Germans were willing to march, all they needed to do was leave a passage for them to attack Gibraltar by land. ”

"The Germans will agree?" Luzhu shook her head, she felt that Ashi was not that stupid.

"If you agree or not, you will know if you talk about it, anyway, you won't waste anything other than wasting some saliva." Li Xiao opened his eyes and looked at the map helplessly.

There are no flowers growing on the map, and attacking Gibraltar by land is not a good move.

The terrain of that place is simply too dangerous.

Looking at it, Li Xiao suddenly stood up and gestured against the map.

Lu Zhu didn't dare to speak, she knew that Li Xiao was like this, there must be a new way.

After a long time, Li Xiao stretched out his hand.

Green Bead looked at him puzzled!

"Cigar!" Li Xiao roared irritably.

Lu Zhu hurriedly took out a cigar from the box, then quickly cut it with cigar tongs and handed it to Li Xiao's hand.

Li Xiao lit his cigar with a match struck by green beads, took two puffs, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Dashuai, you are ......!"

"There is a way, we don't have to attack Gibraltar. To hell with Gibraltar! Li Xiao took a hard puff of his cigar, and then a puff of smoke came out of his nose.

"Really?" Lu Zhu's eyes showed a look of adoration, she really liked Li Xiao's appearance that there was always a way.

"Algiers to Marrakech!" Li Xiao's hand gestured on the map.

"This journey is more than 1,000 kilometers long.

Now our Marine Corps has a strength of 300,000 men in Algiers.

We could have left the Iberian Peninsula and gone straight to Marrakech.

Then, build a military port in Marrakech to supply our European fleet!

The Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, except for a part of the warships that continue to maintain sea power in the Mediterranean.

The rest of the fleet went through the Suez Canal and then all the way south around the Cape of Good Hope. It then circumnavigated the entire African continent and arrived in Marrakech for resupply and recuperation.

In this way, we would be able to bypass the Strait of Gibraltar and attack the British mainland directly. As long as the British surrendered, they were afraid that Gibraltar would continue to resist.

Let's not forget, the mines trapped us and we couldn't move forward, and the same stuck Gibraltar and there was no way out.

As long as we control the Atlantic, they will have no supplies. Lao Tzu wants to besiege them to death, if it doesn't work in one year, it will be trapped for two years, and if it doesn't work in two years, it will be trapped for ten years.

Lao Tzu is going to starve those damned Britons to death in Gibraltar. ”

Li Xiao's finger pointed at the place in Gibraltar and said viciously.

Green beads' eyes lit up, although this is a stupid idea, but it is very feasible.

In the face of the powerful Ming army, the tribal armament of Morocco is not worth mentioning at all.

The Marine Corps attacking Marrakech is actually marching to Marrakech. As soon as they get there, the chieftains there will not think about fighting at all, they will just surrender immediately.

"It's just that the road before this kilometer ......!" Green Bead was a little worried.

After all, the local population was poor, and the military supplies of the Ming Dynasty were very attractive to them. If the transport convoy is robbed by the locals, then it will be a big trouble.

In addition, the road requirements of the automobile transport fleet are very high, and the time for laying the railway is too long, and the road of more than 1,000 kilometers is indeed a headache.

"There was no choice but to bring in European prisoners of war to build roads. At the same time, additional Indian troops were recruited to maintain law and order on the ground.

Using the method of the Central Asian Railway, where there is a problem with the road, the chieftain of that place will be troubled.

That's all there is to it!

Of course, this is only a preliminary idea, and there are many details that need to be implemented. Li Xiao looked at the map, and the more he looked at it, the more excited he became.

To be honest, attack a place like Gibraltar with strong fortifications. There is almost no doubt that the Marines will suffer heavy losses.

The tactics of a roundabout from North Africa are well worth considering.

The only problem now is the safety of this more than 1,000-kilometer land transport line.

But it's easy to do, and the Indian troops are mobilized. No matter how much more Korean and Japanese sappers are recruited, it is really impossible to make a mistake, and people can be recruited to come and build roads.

It's just building roads, and it's not some high-end work.

Enjoy the protection of the Ming Dynasty, and it is not possible to pay a little price.

Now the last thing that Daming lacks is manpower, and most of it is free labor.

Because the Ming Dynasty recruited people from Korea and the Wa Kingdom, they didn't need money at all.

These expenses, and even their grain, were supplied by Korea and the Japanese state.

As for India, adult men of the Sikhs and Gurkha people over the years. First fought against the Ming Dynasty, and later followed the Ming Dynasty to fight against other countries.

Adult men have suffered a great loss, and now many Sikh and Gurkha families have one or two disabled people.

More die on the battlefield!

It can be said that the Sikhs and Gurkha people almost shed their blood for the Ming Dynasty.

However, Li Xiao still found a good replacement, that is, the Ottomans.

The Ottomans were a large empire that spanned Europe and Asia, with a population of more than 13 million.

The Ottoman Sultan is now eager to call Li Xiao his father.

Since there are so many people, I am really sorry for them if they don't use their livestock.

Lao Tzu helped you fight the Kurds, and how much thought did Lao Tzu waste.

Although, the battle was fought by the captive soldiers. But those captive soldiers were not also captured by Lao Tzu. The ammunition they fired was still provided by Lao Tzu.

If Lao Tzu hadn't beaten him like this, the Asian part of the Ottomans would have been so stopped? Those parts of Aleppo have long been occupied by the Kurds.

and the Sultan of Egypt, who was also under the protection of Lao Tzu. There are more than 9 million people under his rule, and it should not be too much for so many people to give Lao Tzu 100,000 people.

Li Xiao thought about it, and it all added up. Only in the short term, if the forces of the Far East are not mobilized.

He could easily get more than 300,000 people to build this road.

You can also transfer Staney and use the sectional construction method to lay the railway from Algiers to Marrakech!

The more I think about it, the clearer my thinking becomes. The more I think this solution works!

When he put down his cigar, he found that the room was full of smoke, as if it was on fire.

On the lacquered wooden floor, a lot of cigar butts were thrown. Burned the floor out one after the other!

At the door, Li Lin stood worriedly.

"Send a telegram to your second uncle and ask him to come over for a meeting by airship."